Soldier of Harmony
by Lord Curly
Summary: After his death on earth a soldier is sent to Equestria to learn the meaning of freandship and happieness, two things he forgot on earth. But how will he spend his new life? With his anti-social tendencies he might spend it alone and friend less, but not if the mane six have anything to say about it. Rating subject to change. May be classified as a Human in Equestria fic. not sure.
1. Introduction by Death

**Soldier of Harmony**

Chapter 1:Introduction by Death

**Authors Note:** Time and date are random, any connection to any actual fighting is purely coincidental. For songs if part of the song isn't sung by the main singer it is in **bold**.

**Afghanistan, location classified  
****Corporal Daniel "Wolf" I...(info lost)  
****March 29, 2012 11:30am**

Pain that's all I could think about as I lie there bleeding out. As I started to lose consciousness I began to think about how a night of fun lead to the day I would die.

* * *

**Twelve and a half hours ago…**

"…And now as a reward for all your hard work in these past few months we have some live entertainment for you. From first platoon Sergeant Parker and his squad have "decided" to play some music for you. Enjoy yourselves just don't put anyone in the hospital, tomorrow you all head back to the states for some well deserved R&R."

Me, Parker aka Big man and PFC "Slick" Franco went on stage and got our instruments ready. Franco was the drummer, I was the lead singer with Parker as the secondary singer with both of us playing the guitar.

"All right boys lets do this." said Parker to us, "Are you ready to party troopers." There was thunders roar from the other soldiers. "Not all of you may be familiar with this song but this is for all the nice guys ou there."

(Nice Guys by Chester See, Kevin Wu & Ryan Higa)

_Nice guys finish last,_  
_That's why I'll treat you like trash,_  
_It's not what I really want to do_  
_But, you only date bad guys so,_  
_I'll give it my best try to_  
_Treat you the way you want me to._

_I never open a door,_  
_or pull out a chair._  
_You can tell me how your day was_  
_but I don't really care._  
_And if you ever get cold_  
_you'll just have to hack it,_  
_Cause I'd be cold too_  
_If I gave you my jacket._  
_Like WHOA, you ain't sittin up front,_  
_Front is for the homies you can sit in the trunk._  
_I never answer my phone,_  
_Whenever you call it_  
_And when the waiter brings the bill_  
_I never reach for my wallet._

_Nice guys finish last,_  
_That's why I'll treat you like trash,_  
_It's not what I really want to do_  
_But, you only date bad guys so,_  
_I'll give it my best try to_  
_Treat you the way you want me to._

_And Ima BEAT you!_  
_At every competition._  
_Going out with the girls_  
_You better get my permission._  
_Wait no, I take that back, you can't go,_  
_House is on tonight_  
_And that's my favorite show!_  
_**Do I look fat in this dress?  
**Hell yeah you do!_  
_Wait let me speak you language_  
_Cows go Moo!_  
_Mooo Moooo Mooo MOOOO!_

_Nice guys finish last,_  
_That's why I'll treat you like trash,_  
_It's not what I really want to do_  
_But, you only date bad guys so,_  
_I'll give it my best try to_  
_Treat you the way you want me to._

_But behind the scenes she means the world to me._  
_Wanna tell her that she's beautiful, and show her that she's_  
_loved._  
_Hold her hand when she's scared, tell her how much I care…_  
_But that won't win her heart BECAUSE…_

_Nice guys finish last,_  
_That's why I'll treat you like trash,_  
_It's not what I really want to do_  
_But, you only date bad guys so,_  
_I'll give it my best try to_  
_Treat you the way you want me to._

We then played some of our own songs and by the time of the last song it was about one. "Alright this is our last song for the night, so who says you can't go home." The rest of the squad started playing while I waited for my cue.

(Who Says You Can't Go Home by Bon Jovi)

_I spent 20 years trying to get out of this place_  
_I was looking for something I couldn't replace_  
_I was running away from the only thing I've ever known_  
_Like a blind dog without a bone_  
_I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone_

_I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold_  
_I been there, done that and I ain't lookin' back on the seeds I've sown,_  
_Saving dimes, spending too much time on the telephone_  
_Who says you can't go home_

_Who says you can't go home_  
_There's only one place they call me one of their own_  
_Just a hometown boy, born a rolling stone, who says you can't go home_  
_Who says you can't go back, been all around the world and as a matter of fact_  
_There's only one place left I want to go, who says you can't go home_  
_It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright_

_I went as far as I could, I tried to find a new face_  
_There isn't one of these lines that I would erase_  
_I lived a million miles of memories on that road_  
_With every step I take I know that I'm not alone_  
_You take the home from the boy, but not the boy from his home_  
_These are my streets, the only life I've ever known,_  
_who says you can't go home_

_Who says you can't go home_  
_There's only one place they call me one of their own_  
_Just a hometown boy, born a rolling stone, who says you can't go home_  
_Who says you can't go back, been all around the world and as a matter of fact_  
_There's only one place left I want to go, who says you can't go home_  
_It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright_

_I been there done that and I ain't looking back_  
_It's been a long long road_  
_Feels like I never left, that's how the story goes_  
_It doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter where you go_  
_If it's a million miles away or just a mile up the road_  
_Take it in, take it with you when you go,_  
_Who says you can't go home_

_Who says you can't go home_  
_There's only one place they call me one of their own_  
_Just a hometown boy, born a rolling stone, who says you can't go home_  
_Who says you can't go back, been all around the world and as a matter of fact_  
_There's only one place left I want to go, who says you can't go home_  
_It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright_

_It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright_  
_Who says you can't go home_  
_It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright_  
_Who says you can't go home_

"Thanks for being here we'll see you all at, oh six hundred. Goodnight."

* * *

**The next day…**

"Alright boys were an hour from the air field then it's just a long ass flight back to the states."

"I don't know about you guy but first thing I'm going to do is-" The convoy is then attacked, most of the men were killed before any one could react Big man was the first to recover.

"Shit contacts all sides. Damn it they got Jenkins, Ramirez get on the fifty-cal. everyone else with me we need to get to those buildings if we want to hold them off." While Ramirez manned the fifty-cal. Wolf, Slick, and Big man got to the cover of the buildings just as the humvee was destroyed.

"Shit they just got Ramirez," yelled Slick. We were holding them off, Slick covered our front with his M249 Saw, Big man covered the left with his M4A1, and I covered the right with my Mp5. We were doing well until Slick got shot.

"Damn it we need to move we can't stay here." said Big man.

"Grab Slick and fall back, I'll cover you guys. Choppers are inbound they'll land in the courtyard behind us. I'll meet you there." I said. Big man grabbed Slick and started heading to the courtyard. After awhile I went the same way. By the time I got there Big man and Slick were in the chopper waiting for me. That's when I was shot in the back, I collapsed on the wrong side of the courtyard. I could hear Big man calling my name as I crawled to a wall, I then sat up against said wall.

"Wolf get up we need to go, get up Wolf. Get up."

"Negative Big man I'm not going to make it Get out of here while you still can I'll hold them off." I said, by this time I already couldn't feel my legs. Big man tried to talk me out of staying behind but I turned off my radio. I shot at the few enemy soldiers that tried to get to the chopper. Eventually the chopper took off and I sat there thinking as I bleed out. Eventually I lost too much blood and passed out and died a few minutes later. However when I opened my eyes I was in a completely white room

"Hello is there anyone there."

"Welcome my son…"

**Authors Note:** I started this story while I'm doing My Little Skyrim: the Return of Alduin so I wouldn't forget my idea. Do not expect constant updates until my other story is finished.


	2. A second chance

Chapter 2: A second chance

**Purgatory…**

"God? But that's impossible," I said in shock.

"No I'm here and now I have some thing to talk to you about."

"Why should I listen to you, you have done nothing but fill my life with misery and pain. While my life fell apart you did nothing."

"I sent many things to help you but you misinterpreted their meaning. However that is not why I want to talk I know that you lost many things because of how your life turned out, your friends and happiness among them. I am willing to give you a second chance, a chance to make new friends and find happiness."

"You have got to be kidding, there are many other people who deserve this chance. I mean I've doubted your existence since I was in high school. Surely someone else deserves this chance."

"No I chose you and you will be the one to receive this second chance."

"NO! I refuse just send me to heaven and give this chance to someone else."

"If I send you to heaven you still will not be happy. You are going to have this chance even if you don't want it. I am sending you to a place you knew when you were in High School, a place you still know, you will start a new life there. And I mean life in the most literal way possible, you will be given a new body and you will be able to die or be killed. I will allow you to keep your memories of your old life when you begin your new life. You will look how I see fit however you will still be twenty years old."

"I don't see why I need to do this I had enough friends in my old life I don't need more. And I can live with the fact that I never found happiness on earth (I don't know if that's how to write this seeing how he's dead)."

"Close your eyes and you will be transported and begin your new life." I closed my eyes and disappeared.

* * *

**Location: Unknown  
****Time: Unknown**

I woke up with a massive headache, it took me a few seconds to realize that I felt what seemed to be hoofs on my face when there should be hands. Slowly moving my appendages from my face I realized that my hands had become hoofs, my hair had become a mane and that I now had a tail, wings and a horn. I was a pony, no I was an Alicorn, but it didn't matter to me I screamed and I'm sure they could hear me screaming back in the US. When I finally calmed down enough to think rationally I tried to think what happened and how I became a pony.

"Ok so God sent me to a new world to start a new life. He also said I knew this world so, based on what I know I must be in Equestria. Which also means he turned me into a pony so I could fit in around here and judging by how the forest behind me looks I'd say I'm at the edge of the Everfree forest." I then set out to find some place where I could see my reflection. After searching for awhile I found a river. I had become an Alicorn and I was about as tall as Princess Luna if my memory was correct, my mussels were showing slightly. My coat was gunmetal gray and I still had blue eyes, at least part of my body was the same. My mane was a combination of red and orange that made it look like fire and my tail had the same colors, both were short due to the military regulations on hair. I also noticed I still had my watch but couldn't tell if it still had the right time. "Not bad at least I'm not ugly. Now based on the Fanfiction stories I read I should give myself a new name, I doubt Daniel will be acceptable here, and the name should have something to do with either my body or cutie mark." As soon as I said that I dawned on me that I never looked at my cutie mark. I was sadly disappointed when I realized I was a blank flank, but I also noticed a saddlebag on my back but that was not important now. However now not only would I standout for being an Alicorn but now I would stand out for being a blank flank as well.

"Well this is just great I guess my name will be Flamingsteel, I mean it's not like a lot of ponies come to the Everfree forest so if I make my house here I'll most likely go unnoticed. Now I don't want to be to far away from the river and I don't want to live to deep into the forest where the more dangerous animals live." As I started to look at my surroundings I found a clearing with a tree in the center of it with a good view of the river and the hills that surround Ponyville.

"This is perfect I can build a shelter in that tree and still be able to see the sunrise. It also helps that there is no poison joke here. But first I wonder what's in my bag." I opened the bag and found schematics for a guitar, my iPod which had been changed it now held all my songs plus they lyrics and song sheets for all the instruments, some food, a picture of my squad and friends from the marines, some rations, and rope lots of rope. "Perfect I just hope this is enough rope to make a house. Now to find a rock too cut this with." For the next few days I built my home. It wasn't much seeing as how I only had rope, a rock to cut it with and what ever wood I found lying around. It had a roof four walls a window and a door. What I found most surprising was that I still had enough rope left over to make two blankets and a pillow. I never thought that learning how to knit in my High School art class would be useful. "Finally I can get a good night sleep, sleeping on branches was so god damn uncomfortable." I planed on living out my new life in solitude but God had other plans, big plans.


	3. Divine Intervention

Chapter 3: Divine Intervention

**Authors Note:** I will be using military time for this story.

**Poneville, Equestria  
****Local Time: 18:00  
****Three days since arrival**

Twilight was helping Rarity find some books on fashion it was just a normal day at the library. Just as Rarity was about to leave Derpy Hooves came to the door with a letter for Twilight. "Twilight I got a letter for you."

"Thanks Derpy." replied Twilight. "Good bye Twilight, now I can go on a muffin break." After that was said Derpy made a muffin appear out of nowhere and flew off.

"So what does the letter say darling." asked Rarity.

Dear Twilight,

An acquaintance of mine have recently made his new home near Ponyville, however he has not left his home or made any attempt to make any friends in the three days he's been there. I was hopping you and your friends could help him get over his anti-social tendencies. His home is to the south of Ponyville just inside the edge of the Everfree Forest. If he doesn't want to talk call him by his nickname Wolf.

A friend.

"Well Rarity , apparently a pony built a house just inside of the Everfree forest and somepony that knows him is afraid he isn't going to make any friends and wants us to help him make friends."

"Oh, nopony should be with out friends, we simply must help him."

"I agree, go get Applejack and Pinkie Pie, I'll get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Once you get them meet us on the southern border of Ponyville."

Once they all arrived at the border of the forest, Twilight decided to tell them about the letter. "Ok girls, I called you here because-"

"Oh is this about the new pony in Ponyville." Interrupted Pinkie. "How did-" "My pinkie sense was telling me there was a new pony I town but it's been three days since my pinkie sense went off and I still haven't found them. Huh, this means they haven't gotten a welcome to Ponyville party yet. We need to find them soon, nopony should not get a welcome to Ponyville party."

"Yes well a friend of his sent me a letter asking for our help. He wants us to help his friend make friends, the only problem is that he lives in the Eveerfree forest." said Twilight

"What! Nopony's crazy enough to live there. There are too many dangerous creatures they wouldn't last a day." Rainbow Dash said.

"Normally I would agree with you Dash, but apparently he's been there for three days. Also his friend said he lived just inside the forest, not many creatures come to the edge of the forest." They then split up to look for this mysterious pony. After about an hour they all regrouped in a field with a tree.

"Ah, can't believe we couldn't find him. Ya think we wouldn't miss a house. Ah mean it's already dark we should have at least seen him." said Applejack.

"I know where could he… wait do you here that?" asked Twilight.

"…There is an open door, somehow it feels so familiar, we have been here before…"

* * *

**A few minutes ago…**

I had noticed that the mane six had been looking for me so I stayed hidden in my home. By this time I assumed they had given up and returned home. The sun had gone behind the horizon and there was not a star in the sky. I don't know why but I felt compelled to sing, and I knew the perfect song for the moment.

(Guide You Home (I Would Die for You) by Rebecca Kneubuhl)

_This is the darkest night  
The stars have all faded away  
Quiet upon this world_

_Through the clouds there is a light_  
_We will find a way_

_I would die for you_  
_Cross the sky for you_  
_I will send out a light burning for you alone_  
_You're all I need_  
_You set me free_  
_And this fire will guide you home_

_There is an open door_  
_Somehow it feels so familiar_  
_We have been here before_

_Through this old forgotten fight_  
_There must be a way_

_I would die for you_  
_Cross the sky for you_  
_I will send out a light burning for you alone_  
_You're all I need_  
_You set me free_  
_And this fire will guide you home_

_Where our hearts are wide open_  
_Where our hope is unbroken_

_I would die for you_  
_Cross the sky for you_  
_I will send out a light burning for you alone..._

_I would die for you_  
_Cross the sky for you_  
_I will send out a light burning for you alone_  
_You're all I need_  
_You set me free_

_I would die for you_  
_Cross the sky for you_  
_I will wait for you_  
_I will stay for you_  
_You're all I need_  
_You set me free_  
_You set me free_

_And this fire will guide you home..._

Singing that made me think of home and everyone I knew but before I could start to think about what happened to everyone when I died I heard a voice. Or at least I thought I did but then realized that I was in the Everfree Forest no one came into the forest especially at night, but then I heard it again. "Hello, can we talk."

Unsure who could be here I stuck my head out the window and saw Twilight and her friends. "Go away and let me sleep." Whit that I went back inside and ignored them until I heard her say something I didn't expect.

"Get back here and talk to us Wolf." said Twilight. She just used my codename no one should know my codename, unless Jenkins or Ramirez were also sent here. But they wouldn't know that I was here and God didn't tell me he sent anyone else here. I had to get to the bottom of this, so reluctantly I stuck my head out the window again.

"How do you know that name, no on… nopony should know that name. Also why are you here and how did you find me?" I asked, I need to know what they knew.

"Well today I got a letter telling me about you. It said that you were living here and need some friends. It also said that if you wouldn't talk to us to call you Wolf. Why do you call yourself Wolf anyway?"

"First tell me who sent the letter then I might answer some of your questions."

"I don't know who sent the letter it was signed 'a friend'. So how old are you? Why are you in that tree? Where did you come from? And why are you called Wolf?" she asked. Now I had to think of a response that they would find acceptable. But I couldn't tell them I came from a different planet/ dimension, why I was called Wolf or that I wasn't even a pony. That would lead to too many questions and unwanted attention.

"To start I'm nineteen, and I came from a distant land. As to why I'm in this tree, it's because this tree is my home. And it's safer to live in this tree than it is to live on the ground. But I'm not going to tell you why I'm called Wolf that's personal. Now go away so I can sleep and don't bother me again." With that I went to try and get some sleep knowing that they would be back tomorrow. I just hope that I can get them to leave me alone.


	4. Going out

**Notice: **I added some things to chapter 2 that will tie into this chapter. I would recommend re-reading the end of chapter 2.

Chapter 4: Going out

**Flamingsteel's home, Equestria**

**Local time: 0800**

**Five days since arrival**

"Two days, I mean come on how long can she stay out there?" Ever since the girls found my house they had been trying to get me to hang out with them, most likely in an effort to become my friends. They introduced themselves the next day and they all visited a few times a day, but Pinkie Pie never left. By the time I had woken up the next day she had set up a campsite beneath the tree. She wouldn't leave, she just sat there waiting for me to come out. I could go out and exercise or stretch and I'm out of rations, eventually I'll have to go out and get food. "I can't take it anymore I need to get out." Reluctantly I stuck my head out the window to talk to Pinkie.

"Hey Pinkie." She didn't respond she only looked at me. "If I hang out with you will you leave me alone?" That set her off, she started talking so fast I couldn't understand her. I was able to make out the words party, my friends and cupcakes. She finally calmed down enough for her to speak so I could understand. "So what's your name? What do you want to do?"

"My name is Flamingsteel, and I don't care what we do as long as you leave me alone after." With that I went back in side and quickly changed one of my blankets into some sort of clothing to hide my wings and flank (think of it as that stereotypical Mexican clothing modified for a pony). The rope made it uncomfortable as hell. I went out side to see that the campsite was gone and so was Pinkie. "Looks like I don't have to go out." I thought.

"So what do you want to do? Oh I should show you a round town. Then we could do other things." said Pinkie who some how managed to get behind me. As she pulled me toward Ponyville I tried to figure out how she got behind me with out noticing. By the time I finally decided it could be explained I noticed we were at the library. She knocked on the door and when Twilight answered she quickly told her something, Twilight smiled and went back inside while Pinkie started to walk back towards me. I had a bad feeling that they were planning something that had to do with me.

We walked around town, Pinkie was pointing out all the important buildings. After a while I stopped listening since I remembered all the important places from the show. Saying I would do anything to get away would be an understatement. I couldn't stand it, four hours how can someone show another person or pony in this case around a small town for four hours? At long last we reached the end of the tour Sugarcube Corner.

"And finally we have Sugarcube Corner, well that's the end of the tour. Let's go get some cupcakes." We entered and immediately I could tell some thing was off. The lights were off, I couldn't hear anything that would normally be heard inside a bakery, but I could smell food. There was every indication that it was closed, that's when it hit me Pinkie had told Twilight to organize a party for me. "Surprise." The lights came on and everypony from town was there. "Were you surprised, were you?" Pinkie was jumping around me. I wanted to leave then but I had not eaten all day and it was free.

"I'm sorry Pinkie but it takes more than that to surprise me. Normally I'm not the type of per…pony to attend parties. But I guess I'll stay for a while." Pinkie was overjoyed she started telling me everything that they had. I personally stayed away from anything that had flowers, grass of hay my body may have changed but my taste buds are probably the same. I enjoyed the party for the most part, a few ponies asked me some questions but I answered them as vaguely as possible. By the end of the party it was just me, the girls and spike.

"So Steel, is it ok if I call you Steel?" asked Twilight. I just nodded. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." I sighed, I knew this was going to happen eventually.

"Fine but only a few, it's late and I need to get home." "This cannot end well." I thought.

"Ok first where are you from? What do you do for fun? Why did you move here? Oh and do you miss your family. And who built you house I don't remember seeing any construction lately" Basic questions nothing to hard to keep vague. "I'm from a land far away called America, I'm usually trying to stay in shape so I don't really do anything for fun. I came here because I wanted a change of scenery." I said. "It's not like I had a choice." I thought. "As for my family, I haven't seen them in years so I don't really mind be far away from them. I also built my house myself."

The girls were a little shocked that I haven't seen my family in such a long time. "So what's ameraca like." "First it's called America not ameraca. As for what it's like…I'll tell you another time." The next half hour consisted of the girls asking me different questions about me. Nothing really important happened until Rarity started to ask me questions. "So darling I must ask but why are you wearing such a hideous outfit and why is your mane and tail so short? Is it a fashion trend where you come from?"

"Hey I'm offended that you don't like my outfit, I made this from scratch with what I could find. As for my mane and tail, they're short because my job required them to be short." I said.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize you made that yourself, if you don't mind me asking what is it made of?"

"Rope, it's made of rope. Other than a few personal belongings rope was all I had when I came here." I said. I was still a little pissed god didn't give me some clothes.

"Rope, oh my! Darling you simply must come to my boutique tomorrow and let me design something more fashionable for you. Rope, I can't believe you're wearing that, you should just get rid of it. Other than special occasions nopony in Ponyville wears clothes any way." She reached for it and I started backing away.

"No its fine, but I should really get going its dark out and I need to be able to get in my house so… bye." I left as quickly as I could but as I was leaving I thought I heard Rainbow Dash say something about the weather.

* * *

POV change: Rainbow Dash

Steel started to leave then it hit me that I didn't warn him about the storm planed for tomorrow. "Steel, I forgot to tell you there's a storm planed for tomorrow and it's going to rain hard. You better make sure your house is water proof." I shouted.

"Is the storm really going to reach his house? He lives in the forest, why would the storm be over there?" asked Twilight.

"The storm is defiantly goin' to hit his house Twi, mh crops need extra water so the storm is going to be larger than it's supposed to." Said Applejack. "Ah just hope his house is water proof, ah mean he did say he made it himself."

"Yah we should probably check on him after it's over." I said. "If his house isn't water proof he is going to have a serious problem." I thought.

**Authors Note:** Sorry if I did Applejacks accent wrong, I just can't write like that. Review.


	5. The storm and it's results

Chapter 5: The storm and it's results

**Flamingsteel's home, Equestria  
****Local time: 1200  
****Six days since arrival**

The storm was bad, and by bad I mean fucking insane. When I woke up everything was fine, I went on a run and did some push ups, then in an instant the situation went from fine to FUBAR. I was literally ten feet from my house when the storm started and by the time I got inside I was soaked. I used one of my blankets to keep the rain from coming in the window, it wasn't really helping. The roof had more leaks than could be counted. If I had to describe it I would say it was like trying put water into a mesh bag. I was using the other blanket to try and keep myself and my stuff dry. My saddlebag is supposed to be water proof, but I highly doubt it is flood proof.

"Fucking weather, I knew I should have found out what Rainbow dash was trying to say last night." I thought. The storm had been going on for about five hours now. I knew it was not going to end soon. "This is great. I'll be lucky if I don't catch a cold from this. Not to mention the condition my stuff will be when it's over, god could things get any worse?" As if on cue Murphy's Law kicked in. The blanket covering the window was blown away by a large gust of wind. The rain was now easily 20% worse. "Well that's just fucking perfect."

* * *

**Five and a half hours later…**

By this time the storm had ended however I knew I was in trouble. About three hours ago I noticed I had the first signs of hypothermia and as time passed it only got worse. By now I was in it's final stages, since I live in a tree and the field around the tree was now a swamp there was no way to make a fire, which means I have no possible way to keep my self warm. Needless to say I was fucked.

"This is just fucking perfect, I'm going to fucking die! Why, why did I have to be sent here? I would have been fine just enjoying the afterlife but no god just had to send me here. Now instead of bleeding to death I now get to freeze to death." With noting else to do now that I'm freezing and my training ground is now a swamp I decided to check the status of my stuff. Most of it was fine, the saddlebag was ice cold and soaked on the outside but everything on the inside was dry and intact. It was starting to get dark so I pulled my drenched blanket over me in an attempt to save what little body heat I have left. With almost no hope left I did something I never thought I'd do, I prayed. "God please tell me you're just being a troll and this will all be fine in the morning."

* * *

POV change: Twilight

**Field south of Ponyville  
****Local time: 0900  
****Seven days since arrival**

I couldn't help but think about what Rainbow Dash said at Steel's party. After the storm half the town was flooded and most ponies had trouble moving around town. I decided to visit Steel and check on him. Just looking at the field around the tree his house was I could tell the storm hit this place hard. "Steel, are you in there?" There was no response. Normally I would have just assumed that he went out, but there were two problems with that theory. One, Steel doesn't usually leave his house and two there were no hoofprints in the mud, indicating that he hadn't left. "Steel, are you in there?" Still no response, defiantly not good. "Steel if you can hear me I'm coming in." When I entered I could tell something was wrong. Steel was lying on the ground, his breathing was sporadic and shallow. As I got closer I noticed the color had drained from his body and when I put a hoof on him he felt cold. "Steel, are you ok? Do you need help?" I knew they were dumb questions, he was clearly not ok and he had trouble focusing on me when he looked at me.

"I'm fine I just need to sleep. Go home all I need is rest." I was surprised to say the least. We both knew he wasn't fine but he was rejecting my offer to help him. "Steel you're not fine you and I both know it and you are getting help one way or another." He just grunted in response and made no effort to get up. "Looks like we're doing this the hard way." I thought. I placed my hoof on him and teleported us to the library. I moved him towards the fire got some blankets from upstairs and was about to remove the wet one he had on when he stopped me. "No leave it on, it's trapping what little body heat I have left. Just get some more blankets, please."  
"Fine but later I'm getting a doctor." He looked at me with surprise and alarm. "No! No doctor, I don't care how much you beg to see one or how much you complain, no doctor." *sigh* I left and got some more blankets. By the time I got back he had removed his blanket and covered himself with the ones I brought before. "He's hiding something, it would explain why he didn't remove that wet blanket until I left the room. What ever it is it's clearly something he wants to keep a secret." I thought.

* * *

POV change: Flamingsteel

I was starting to warm up which was a good sign that I would live. But I was in Twilight's house which was a bigger problem than hypothermia. "I needed to get out of here and back to my house, the longer I stay here the bigger chance she would learn my secret." I thought. "I doubt she would care that I'm a blank flank. But being an alicorn would defiantly be a problem. If she doesn't immediately tell the princesses or have me arrested for making a mockery of royalty, or something like that, she would ask questions that I don't want to answer and that would be a problem." I needed to get out of there. Once I could stand and my blanket was dry I decided it was time to go. I put my blanket back on and started folding hers when she left the room. When she got back she noticed me folding her blankets and stared at me with a face that said 'what are you doing'. "Well Twilight thanks for the hospitality but I should probably get out of your way. So I'm just going to head home." I started walking toward the door, but half way there I was lifted in the air and covered in a violet glow. All I could think was 'damn magic'.

"Oh no, you are not going anywhere, you are staying here tonight. I don't care if I have to watch you all night you are not going back to your house in this condition. The way you are now you'll never last the night, I mean you were almost frozen when I found you before." Great she's in overprotective mode just like my mom. "You are going to stay in the guest room and that's final." I could see it in her eyes she would do everything in her power to keep me here. All I could do is sigh in defeat. I followed her to the guest room, she left to get something and I got into the bed. She returned with a chair and true to her word she sat down and just watched me. "So your really going to sit there and keep my from leaving aren't you?" She just smirked and nodded her head. Now not only did I have to worry about her discovering my secret but now I had to try and sleep with her watching me. "This could qualify as the most awkward time in my life. This is even worse than that time me and the guys decided… not going to think about that, I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that night. God it was horrible the whip cream, the blowtorch, and then we had to explain it all to the cops and our parents." As I started to fall asleep all I could think about was that night and how I hoped I would relive it in my dreams.

**Authors Note:** Next chapter you'll see what happened that night, hope you're ready for it. Review if you want the story to be better. Also Flamingsteel and Twilight will NOT have a romantic relationship, I have somepony else in mind for that.


	6. A nightmare and discoveries

**Authors Note:** Well here's a nice long chapter for you guys. It just flowed too nice for me to make it two chapters.

Chapter 6: A nightmare and discoveries

**Twilight's house, Ponyville  
****Local time: 1100  
****Ten days since arrival**

"Really Twilight how many times *chough* do I have to say I'm fine?" God, she is so annoying. She's been taking care of me for the past three days refusing to let me leave the bed. She would sleep in that chair every night and be awake when I woke up. Three hours ago we started arguing about my health and she went on to rant about how sick I was when she found me and… well you get the picture. I really wanted to get out of here, it's not that I don't like her, she keeps trying to be my friend when friends are the last thing I need. At least she was finally letting me out of the bed, so I decided to see if I could go back to my house.

"No Steel, you are staying here and make sure of that I put a shield around the house. Everypony else can pass right through it but you will hit a wall. Now, would you like me to get anything from your house?"

"Fine since I can't leave could you get my saddlebag." She just stood there. "Two seconds ago she asked if I needed any thing from my house now she's just standing there what is she waiting for? Damn I'm such an idiot." I thought. "Please?" She smiled and left. When she was gone I finally got out of bed and cracked my back. Now I had to find something to do.

After twenty minutes of looking trough books I couldn't find one that looked interesting. So I exercised for a while and tried to learn how to levitate things with my magic. After about twenty failed attempts I decided to call it quits and went back to bed. Big fucking mistake.

* * *

Flamingsteel's dream

**Location: Classified, Afghanistan  
****Date: ?/?/2003  
****Time: 1330  
****Daniel "Wolf" (info lost)**

Enemy shells were falling everywhere the convoy was torn to pieces and half the men were down. My squad and the other two squads of Wolf pack 3 were pined down in an ally half a click from the objective. Our target was an enemy Command Post that held high priority personnel. It was supposed to be an easy snatch and grab, but the enemy was waiting for us. Our CO, First Sergeant Copper, and his squad managed to get across the street and join us. "All right here's the plan Wolf pack 3-3 will go three streets to the left and move towards the objective. Wolf pack 3-2 will go four streets right and move up. Wolf pack 3-1, my squad and Hunter 4-2 will move up this street. Any one got a problem with the plan?" No one had the courage to tell him the plan would most likely get us killed. "All right lets go boys." The squads split up, unfortunately for me I was in Wolf pack 3-1, so I was going up the middle where the enemy resistance was strongest.

"All right men Red Hot (it's a tank) will be giving us fire support, if you see anything that could pose a serious threat do not be afraid to call out its location. Red Hot will make it cease to exist." We all started to move up, with Red Hot giving us support we had no problem getting to the enemy CP. However just as we got with in visual range of the target we got a call from Wolf pack 3-2. "Copper this is Wolf pack 3-2 we are under heavy enemy fire. We're pined down, we need support over"

"Understood supports on its way. Me and my squad will go help them you boys stay here." With that Copper and his squad went to help Wolf pack 3-2. This finally gave me a chance to talk to Big man, I wasn't sure if this was a dream or not but I wasn't going to sit back and let what happened last time happen again.

"Big man we need to pull the tank back. If they have RPG's we have no way to protect it." If we lost that tank we were domed. "Wolf our orders are to protect this point at all costs that tank is staying there." I was just about to contact the tank's operators when it was hit by multiple RPG's. Red Hot went up in a blaze of glory. Not only did we lose the tank but most of Hunter 4-2 was killed in the explosion. "Shit, fuck this we need to pull back, we're dead if we stay here."

"Negative we are holding this position I can see Wolf pack 3-2 from here once Copper contacts us we're moving up." "This isn't working everything's happening the same way as before, I have to contact Copper." I thought. I was just about to contact Copper when I heard the transmission that made my heart skip a beat "This is Wolf pack 3-3 we're entering target building now."

"Negative Wolf pack 3-3 hold position, do not enter, the building is rigged to explode. I say again the building is… what the…" A bright light appeared out of nowhere and blinded me for a few seconds when my vision cleared I saw Twilight standing there and is that Princess Luna?

* * *

POV change: Twilight

**Flamingsteel's house, Everfree forest, 20 minutes ago…**

I was in Steel's house getting his saddle bag but while I was there I couldn't stop myself from looking around. His house was not bad if you didn't mind the draft, the leaky roof, or the lack of a bathroom. Upon further inspection of the roof I wasn't surprised to see a multitude of holes in it. "Well that explains why he had hypothermia, nothing to cover the window and a leaky roof, he's lucky I decided to check on him." I said, I'll never understand why I was talking to myself. "There's no mattress or blanket only a pillow, I guess his poncho (not sure if that is what that stereotypical Mexican clothing is called too lazy to look it up) doubles as a blanket." I found his saddlebag, it wasn't hard to find since there were only two things in his house. As I put it on my back a picture fell out of one of the pouches. When I picked it up I couldn't help but look at it, what I saw was surprising to say the least. "Oh my, are those humans? Is that marker over some of there faces? I will have to talk to him about this when I get back. This could be the discovery of the century living humans." I put the picture back in his saddlebag and headed back to town. But I had this nagging feeling that I'm forgetting something.

* * *

POV change: ?

I was standing inside of the Ponyville spa waiting. Twilight and I were supposed to spend the day at the spa just relaxing and talking, but she was late. "Something must have happened she's never late for anything." I thought. "Maybe I should go to the library, she might need my help." I started walking toward the library my guard right behind me, as I passed all the ponies bowed. "No matter how many times I say I don't want them to bow to me when I'm not on official business they always bow." I thought, its not that I didn't like the respect they gave me it's just that none of them tried to talk to me. I'm not sure if it's because of what happened when I was Nightmare Moon, but I just want some more friends. (If you haven't figured it out, this is Princess Luna's POV)

When I arrived at the library Twilight wasn't there and neither was Spike. "Strange I wonder where…" But my thoughts were interrupted when I heard something from up stairs just as I was about to see if that was Twilight she came in the door. "Oh, Princess Luna what are you doing here?" I was stunned had Twilight forgotten a bout our spa day.

"You were supposed to meat me at the spa today, remember?" Twilight immediately facehoofed "I'm sorry, princess." She said, "A new friend of mine got sick during the storm we had a few days ago and I'm taking care of him." I was about to tell her it was ok when we heard something up stairs break. Twilight and I looked at each other and started heading upstairs to find out what happened.

When we got to her guest room I noticed a stallion tossing and turning in his sleep he had apparently knocked over a lamp and it broke. "You didn't tell me your friend was this cute, what's his name?" Twilight looked at me just as I realized what I said. "His name is Flamingsteel or Steel for short… wait did you just say that he was cute?" "No, I said sick. Look at him either he is extremely sick or he is having the worst dream in recorded history." My attempt at changing the topic worked because Twilight asked me if I could help him. "Well first I need to know what was wrong with him when you brought him here."

"He had an extreme case of hypothermia when I dragged him here, and by dragged I mean forcibly teleported." I was shocked he had hypothermia and Twilight had to force him back to her house. I quickly scanned his body with my magic and found that he had almost completely recovered. "Well Twilight he's not sick so he must be having an extremely bad nightmare. But what did you mean when you said you had to drag him here? And why didn't you take him to the hospital?"

"Before I dragged him here I asked him if he needed help, he said that he was fine but I could tell he was sick, I told him I was taking him to my house he didn't get up. I'm not sure if he didn't want to go or couldn't get up because he was too sick, but I brought him here. As for why I didn't bring him to the hospital he said he didn't want to see a doctor no mater how many times I asked him to see one."

"Well by the way he is reacting to his nightmare I thing we should go into his mind before he hurts himself with all this tossing and turning. I know a spell that should work. I'm going to warn you, it might be a little disorienting after the spell takes effect." I charged the spell and sent us into Steel's mind.

* * *

POV change: Flamingsteel

The shock of Twilight and Luna suddenly appearing lasted about half a second because a bullet bounced off my helmet, I was one lucky son of a bitch. Got back into cover and looked at them, they looked like ghosts and no one else seamed to notice their sudden appearance. "What are you two doing here? Never mind when I say go run into that ally of there." I started firing and saw Copper's squad enter the building followed by Wolf pack 3-2. Everything was happening the same way as before. I got back into cover as an enemy MG zeroed in on my position. "Shit, Wolf pack 3-3 can you hear me? Wolf pack 3-2 are you there? Copper, anyone respond." I looked over the edge of my cover and time slowed. I saw the explosion begin on the second floor destroying all the windows and moving through out the rest of the building. Then the members of Wolf pack 3-2 started coming back out the door, three of them were killed when a fire ball came out the door. I looked back at Twilight and Luna just in time to see one of the men from Hunter 4-2 take multiple rounds to the chest and fall in front of them. I knew he was dead before he hit the ground. They looked at the body and then at me fear in their eyes. I just looked back at the building and contacted command.

"Overlord this is Wolf pack 3-1 actual, target building destroyed, it was rigged to blow. We have taken heavy casualties since the convoy was hit. Hunter 4-2 and Wolf pack 3-2 have wounded, Wolf pack 3-3 are all KIA and Copper's squad is also believed to be KIA. We need extraction and medical teams…confirm Overlord." There were a few seconds of silence. "This is Overlord, we read your last, evac is on its way, Overlord out."

I looked back at the girls, and if the surprise of seeing them here wasn't on my face then I'm incapable of showing emotion. "What are you doing here?" But before they could give me an answer an enemy sniper put a round trough my chest. Of course the one thing that was different than last time involved me dying. I saw the girls look at me and then the pain hit me like a freight train.

Instantly I woke up in Twilights guest room, out of breath, out of instinct the first thing I checked was my body, free of bullet holes just how I left it. Then I noticed Twilight was starting to wake up and I didn't have my poncho on. As fast as I could I put it on and laid back down. Once she was awake she looked at me with concern in her eyes. Then I noticed somepony… somebody behind her. Damn their mannerisms are rubbing off on me. My eyes widened when I realized who it was. "Princess Luna." I said as I tried to stand and bow, but she pushed me back onto the bed.

"Don't get up, from what Twilight told me you shouldn't move around too much." She said, all I could think was 'great another pony… person who wants to keep me here', damn these mannerisms. "How is it you even got hypothermia, surly you were warned about the storm?"

"Yes I was warned but it didn't help. There were too many holes in my roof and the blanket I put in the window to keep the rain out didn't help much. Well thanks for the hospitality Twilight but I should head home."

* * *

POV change: Luna

I was shocked he just recovered from having hypothermia and he wanted to head back to his house. I just didn't understand it, why would he want to leave? Then I took a better look at him, he looked uncomfortable and nervous. "Why do you want to go home so badly? I'm sure Twilight wouldn't mind letting you stay another night."

*sigh* "No, I've bothered Twilight enough, its time I head home. Thanks for getting my bag Twilight." He took his bag from Twilight and was getting ready to leave when Twilight spoke up.

"Wait, before you go can I ask you some questions?" He looked at her with what appeared to be a look of annoyance on his face. "Questions about what?" Twilight looked like she was unsure how to answer his question, which is defiantly a first for her. "Well when I went to get your saddlebag a picture fell out when I picked it up. So I have to ask… were those humans in that picture and in your nightmare?"

POV change: Flamingsteel

* * *

*sigh* I knew I should have seen this coming. "Yes, those were humans." I looked down at the ground remembering all the good times I had with my friends. I missed them. Luna saw this, "Steel you look sad, do you want to talk about it?"

"No, but I'll answer any questions you have about humans." Twilight looked like she would explode with joy. "Steel, do you mind if I get everypony else they'd probably want to hear this to." *Sigh* "Only if everypony else means your five friends than sure, you'll probably just tell them any way." This is gong to be a long day.

**Authors Note:** Damn that was the longest chapter I've ever written. And to all of you who wanted to see what happened on the night referenced to in the last chapter sorry it's not going to happen, I was just being a troll.


	7. Minimal Truth

Chapter 7: Minimal Truth

**Twilight's house, Ponyville  
****Local time: 1400  
****Ten days since arrival**

Twilight had left to get the rest of her friends, leaving me and Luna in an awkward silence. We were lost in our own thoughts and I was trying to think of a way to break the silence. "So… how's life in Canterlot?" I know, not the best question, but I was never good with awkward situations.

"Oh, it's fine… I wonder what's taking Twilight so long." We sat there looking at various parts of the house until I got bored. So I closed my eyes and started singing songs in my head trying to pass the time. I was doing this for about ten minutes until I heard Luna get up. I opened my eyes expecting to see Twilight and her friends, but instead I saw Luna looking around the room with a look of confusion on her face. "You ok princess?"

"Fine, I just thought I heard music." She continued to look around and I started to resume my previous activity of singing songs in my head. I was thinking of Photograph by Nickelback when Luna's brow furrowed in concentration. "There it is again, I swear I hear music." I still couldn't hear anything, but I did notice that Luna was starting to talk like everyone else was. "Thank God, I didn't think I would be able to stand her talking like she used to all the time." I thought. She was still looking around the room looking for the source of the music I couldn't hear.

"I don't hear anything. Are you sure you hear music?" She looked at me like I was crazy. "I'm sure that there is music, but I can hear it, it's like I'm standing right next to the source, but I don't see anything, and now it's gone again." I just shook my head. "Well if music was being played, perhaps you could hum the tune." I said waiting for her to not be able to do it. Then she started humming, but what surprised me was that she was humming Photograph. "Do you know that song?" I asked. I needed to know what was happening. As far as I knew there were no songs that had that tune in Equestria.

"No… never have I come across a song like that. It was different than any song ever composed." My mind began to recede into my thoughts. "She was humming Photograph, but that's impossible it doesn't exist here. Could she have accidentally read my mind and heard it. No, if it was an accident she wouldn't have said she heard music twice, was she intentionally reading my mind? No, then she wouldn't have been so focused on looking for the source of the music." As I continued to ponder what was happening, Twilight returned with her friends, bringing me out of my thought and halting Luna's search for the source of the music.

"Well now that we're all here, I can tell you why I gathered you here." Twilight's friends looked at her, then at Luna, glanced at me and looked back to her. "I thought you would all want to be here when I asked Steel how and why he has a picture of humans." Instantly, five jaws hit the floor, four figuratively and one literally. I just stared at Pinkie wondering how her jaw was able to reach the floor. "Steel, do you mind if I showed them the picture?" I didn't say anything and just got it out of my saddlebag. There were five noticeable gasps when Twilight's friends saw the picture.

"Oh, who are they? Are they friendly? Oh can-" Pinkie was then cut off when Applejack put her hoof in Pinkie's mouth. "Darling, how did you get a picture of humans? They're nothing but a myth only seen in dreams." I smiled at that comment, not willing to share the fact that they were nothing but creatures created by imagination back home. "No. They exist, I've seen them and I can assure you that they are real."

"Well then, where are they? How come nopony has seen them except for you?" Rainbow Dash asked, just from her tone I could tell she didn't believe me. "Nopony from here has seen them, but the ponies from my homeland have. We lived in peace for a long time, but all good things come to an end." All of them just looked at me wondering what I meant. Finally, Luna spoke up.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by all good things must come to an end." Damn, I just realized the position I put myself in. They wanted answers, but I couldn't tell them the whole truth. If I did, not only would they be scarred for life, but the might find out that I was once human. All I could do was to tell them a small part of the truth. "Well, about a few years ago a group of humans and ponies that believed in a different idea than most people created their own country. We had no problem with this… until they attacked. They destroyed the two tallest buildings in the known world, killing many innocent people and ponies. That action caused a war and my homeland was never the same again." They all looked at me with fear in their eyes. Even after giving them the least graphic version of the story possible, they were still afraid.

We talked for about an hour about the human race. They asked about eating habits, clothing styles, farming techniques, and how advanced our society was. They were almost out of questions when Rarity asked a question I was hoping to avoid. "Darling, I was looking at your picture and I noticed there is black marker over the faces of some of these humans." I visibly cringed at the question, and everyone noticed. "They have black marker over their faces because it's tradition. Speaking of that reminds me… Twilight, do you have a black marker I could borrow?" Without getting up, she levitated a black marker over to me. I took the marker and covered the faces of Ramirez and Jenkins 'updating' my picture. They all watched me 'update' my picture and stared at me before Pinkie spoke up.

"Why did you do that, silly? Now you can't see their faces!" I shook my head. Apparently, she hadn't listened to a word I said. "That's the point." They all looked at me confused and I started gathering my things "I don't understand. Wouldn't thou wish to remember their faces?" *sigh* "Well, it looks like Luna hasn't fully adjusted to the 'new' way of speaking," I thought. I looked at them for awhile before responding. "I don't want to remember their faces, since it only brings back bad memories."

"Ah don't understand, ya said that they were ya friends, but out of the fifteen humans in this here picture, ya can only see the faces of these three." Applejack said, while pointing at me, Big Man, and Slick. I looked at them holding back the tears I could feel forming in my eyes. "The keyword in that sentence is 'were'. The twelve with the blacked out faces are incapable of being my friends anymore."

They all looked at me funny until Fluttershy spoke up. "How come they're unable to be your friends?" I couldn't believe it. I expected one of them to ask this question once we started down this path, but I didn't expect it to be Fluttershy. *sigh* I grabbed my bag and opened the door. I looked back before I left and answer that last question. "They can't be my friends anymore because they're… they're dead." I left as quickly as possible in order to avoid any more questions, but on my way I couldn't help not thinking about them. "I don't understand why I feel this way. I never got to know the members of Wolf pack 3-3 or those two members of Wolf pack 3-2. They died on that first mission about two hours after that picture was taken." I thought. "I barely got to know the other members of Wolf pack 3-2 before they were killed a few missions later. The only people in that picture I really knew were Jenkins, Ramirez, Slick, and Big Man." I got about halfway back to my house when I noticed I was being followed.

* * *

POV change: Luna

I followed Steel once he left the library. I could only imagine the pain he must be feeling. Sure all of my friends had died while I was stuck on the moon as Nightmare Moon, but I watched as they died and had a thousand years to get over it, while I plotted my revenge. But to me, it seemed that this was the first time Steel had told anypony how he was feeling, so I wanted to be there for him if he needed me. After a while, he suddenly stopped. "You can stop following me. I know you're there." I walked toward him slightly shocked that he noticed I was following him. The night was my element, and almost nopony is able to see me in the darkness of the night when I didn't want them to.

"I saw how sad you were when you left and I just wanted to make sure you were ok." He started to walk again and I walked next to him. Now that he wasn't in a bed, I noticed we were about the same height. He was a little shorter, but you wouldn't be able to tell unless we stood next to each other. "How come you and Twilight didn't tell the others about my nightmare?"

"We thought that if you wanted them to know about it, you would tell them." He stopped and looked at me. "How much of it did you understand?" I thought about how to explain it to him when I had an idea. "Here it would be easier for me to show you." I charged a spell that would allow him to see my memories. When it was we continued walking, (in Steel's mind) "Wow. Lucky me, I guess God is still watching me. It's the only way to explain why I looked like a pony to them and looked like a human to myself." (Back to Luna) We walked in silence for a while before he asked me a question I wasn't prepared for.

"So what's the real reason you're following me? The others were probably concerned, but they decided to stay back at the library." I couldn't tell him that I kind of liked him. I mean I hadn't known him for more than a day, but I had never felt this strongly about anypony else before, either. But I needed an excuse. "Well, um… *sigh* I wanted to know where you lived. I thought that next time I was in town we could get to know each other better." He just remained quiet and stopped walking.

It was then that I noticed we were just inside the Everfree Forest. In the center of this clearing was a tree with a poorly made house in it. "Well, this I where I live. I wouldn't recommend following me inside thought, it was only made for one per… pony. Thank you for being concerned about me, though."

"Anytime. Just let me know if you need somepony to talk to." Then, I hugged him out of instinct. After the shock wore off, he returned it.

* * *

POV change: Flamingsteel

She was hugging me and after a while, I hugged her back. I felt butterflies in my stomach. We let go of each other and I went inside. On my way in, I had only one thought on my mind. "Strange. I must be coming down with something. I've never felt this way before and I hope it's not contagious." Luna put her head through the window. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said this place was made for just one pony!" She looked at the roof and I heard her gasp. "No wonder you got hypothermia, there are more holes in this roof than I can count! You should talk to the mayor about getting a home in Ponyville."

"No, it's ok. I'm fine here. There's no reason to bother the mayor, she's probably busy as it is. Now I'm sorry to say this, but please leave I'm tired and want to sleep. Perhaps we could talk another time." She nodded her head and left. As I went to bed, I had only one thought on my mind. "That was close. I was sure one of them was going to find out that I was an alicorn.

**Authors Note: **Once again, I'm sorry if I messed up Applejack's accent. Please review, it helps me write better.


	8. Unexpected Events

Chapter 8: Unexpected Events

**Flamingsteel's house, Everfree Forest  
Local time: 0630  
****Eleven days since arrival **

It was just another normal day here... who am I kidding, except for the first few days, not one day here has been normal. I got up at 0500 did my usual 5k run and began my training routine. I did sit-ups, chin-ups, and crunches. But just as I was about to finish my routine with some pushups, I saw something moving in the tree line. I immediately went inside and put my poncho on. "I really hope nopony saw me. Nopony... God these mannerisms are going to drive me insane," I thought. I surveyed the tree line and saw three distinct creatures. However, I couldn't tell what they were. As I approached the tree line I could hear voices.

"Ah told ya we overslept." "It doesn't matter. We still need to clean the campsite, fast." "Why are you in such a rush, Sweetie Belle?" "Well I don't know about you guys, but I didn't tell Rarity or anypony else we were camping out here." "Oh man, we are going to be in so much trouble." Sweetie Belle, if she's here than the other two must be Apple Bloom and Scootalo. I had never met them, but from their voices I could tell they were just kids. I watched as they attempted to clean their campsite. They were trying to put away the tent. After many unsuccessful attempts, I couldn't suppress a chuckle. Unfortunately, they heard me.

"Oh no." I thought it was cute how they said the same thing at the same time. They approached me looking at the ground expecting a punishment. "So... how much trouble are we in?" asked Scootalo. Oh, this is going to be fun.

"Well let's see... I could tell your families what you were doing. Or I could tell your teacher or perhaps I'll write an article in the paper about how I found you in the forest." Every time I suggested another possibility their head dropped lower. "But, I think I'm just going to keep this our secret." They looked at me with stunned expressions as I laughed and finished packing up their stuff. Apple Bloom was the first one to recover from the shock. "Why are ya helpin' us, mister?"

"Well there are two reasons. The first is I don't want you three to get in trouble for having a campout. The other is well... It's because you remind me of when I was your age. Come on, let's head back to town." We grabbed the stuff and headed back to town. Just as we got to my house we heard Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash calling their names. "Oh no, we are in so much trouble now." said Sweetie Belle. I just looked at them and smiled. "No you're not. I've got a plan, give me your stuff." They gave me their stuff and I went to my house. I put their stuff inside just as the others arrived. They all looked worried.

"Where have you girls been? We were looking all over town for you, what were you doing out in the forest?" Rarity was pissed. Note to self: do NOT piss off Rarity. She is more dangerous than a nuke. She was about to yell again when I intervened. "Relax, they weren't doing anything dangerous." They finally noticed me standing in my doorway. "And how da  
ya know what they were doin'?"

"I meet them on my morning run. They were wondering around the  
outskirts of town when we crossed paths." I couldn't tell, but I thought they believed the story so far. "We talked and they said they were trying to get cutie marks for getting up early or something like that. Anyway, I asked them if they wanted to finish my run with me. We finished the run and came back here. That's when you guys showed up. Isn't that right girls?"

"Yeh what he said." replied Apple Bloom. Rarity and Rainbow Dash believed the story, but I could tell Applejack wasn't buying it. Rarity and Rainbow Dash took Sweetie Belle and Scootalo back home, but Applejack and Apple Bloom stayed behind. "Now, why did ya just lie to us? And don't say ya weren't lyin'." Caught…damn.

"Fine, you caught me, I lied. But the point is that I just kept the girls from being yelled at. So I don't care what you think." She looked at me for awhile before responding. *sigh* "Ah don't really care what happened as long as mah sister is safe, but what we ya doin' in the forest."

"Well we were tryin' to get camping cutie marks so we slept in the forest. We planed on bein' back before you guys woke up, but we overslept." Before Applejack could reprimand her sister, Pinkie Pie came out of nowhere and whispered something to them and left. And before I could ask what was going on a royal guard came over. I could tell by his amour that he was one of Princess Luna's personal guards.

"Excuse me, are you Flamingsteel?" I watched him, looking for any signs that he could be a threat, while I nodded. "Princess Luna wants you to meet her in the park in five minutes." I just left and headed toward the park. It took me longer than five minutes to get to the park since I had never been there before, and when I arrived Luna was waiting for me. "Thou are late, am I correct in guessing that you got lost on the way here?"

"Yeah... I got lost. But it's not my fault you asked me to meet you someplace I've been to before." I retorted. "Come walk with me there are some things I want to talk to you about." We started walking and we talked about my life before I came here. I tried to keep my answers as vague as possible without making it look like I'm hiding something. We talked for about two hours before she said something I was unprepared for.

"Steel, I noticed the condition of your house the other day…" all I could think was "Not good." "…so I got you a gift." She then made a key and piece of paper appear and handed them to me. There was noting special about the key and even though I could understand their language I couldn't read anything. "Uh ... what's this princess?"

She smiled before replying. "That is the key and deed to you new house here in Ponyville." I just stared at here unable to respond. "Why would she go through the trouble of buying me a house?" I thought. "She barely knows me and she's giving me a house. It doesn't make sense." I was lost in my thoughts and didn't notice us arriving at my new home. "Well here we are. This is your new house, Steel." Unsure of her motives for buying me this house, I carefully inserted the key and opened the door slowly.

The first thing I noticed was the lack of light, the first sign of trouble. I entered the building and tried to find a light switch when I was 'ambushed'. "Surprise!" I immediately went into a defensive stance trying to figure out what was going on. When I finally recovered from the shock I noticed everypony I knew, along with a few I didn't know and Luna, wearing party hats and a banner that said 'Welcome to Your New Home'. "Another party for me?" I thought. "Do they do anything other than party?"

The party started and I was introduced to my neighbors, Vinyl Scratch along with Derpy Hooves and her daughter Dinky. After about five hours, it was just me, the princess, the mane six, and my neighbors left at the party. So I decided to ask the question that's been on my mind since I meet Luna. "So why did you guys organize this party for me?"

"Why wouldn't we organize a party, you got a new house." replied Pinkie. "Besides isn't that what friends do, make each other happy?" Oh, hell no. "Let's get this straight. You are not my friends. You never will be. The last thing I need in my life is friends." Saying they were shocked at my statement would be an enormous understatement. Pinkie was the first to recover.

"Why would you not want friends? Everypony wants friends!" I just glared at her. "Friendship isn't real. The ponies who say they're your friends are only using you. The only reason they pretend to care about you is because they want something from you. I learned that the hard way and the sooner you accept that, the better." They all looked concerned even my new neighbors. We sat there in silence until Twilight was able to gather up enough courage. "What happened to you that would make you not want friends?"

"It is a long story and I would rather not bore you with it." They just looked at me waiting for me to continue. "Fine, but I'm warning you it's not a pleasant story and please don't tell anypony else."

"I was with a very special friend of mine. We had been dating for about seven months. I had pulled a lot of strings to get some good food and some alone time for us. I planed on asking her to marry me, but before I could ask alarms started going off..."

* * *

**Location: Classified, Afghanistan  
Codename: Firebase Light  
****Date: October 15, 2002  
****Time: 2045 **

"What's going on?" she asked. "I have no idea." I replied. "This is General Montgomery. We have a spy inside the perimeter they have obtained the secure files on the up coming invasion of Iraq. They can not be allowed to leave detain them if possible, kill them if necessary."

"Come on we need to get to the armory. We wont be able to do much if we only have knives." We sprinted to the armory got our weapons and started searching the base. We searched for awhile before running into my best friend, Adam. "Adam, where the hell have you been?"

"Sorry, I was on the can when they alarms went off." We continued our search and we near the southern exit of the base when it happened. We arrived at the door leading outside and were about to go back and recheck all the rooms when I heard a gun shot. Time seemed to slow down as I fell to the floor someone had put a bullet in my back. I looked up just in time to see Adam with his weapon pointed at her head. I watched as he put a bullet in her head unable to move. She was dead before she hit the ground.

"Adam! What the fuck?! Why, why would you turn your back on your country?" He walked past me to the door before replying. "Easy. Money, lots and lots of money." I looked at him in disbelief. "You were my best friend, I trusted you!" I started to lose consciousness. "This has to be a dream." I thought...

* * *

Present Day

"…Three days later I woke up in the base's medical wing. The doctor informed me that it wasn't a dream. My best friend, someone who I knew since we were no older than five, had shot me in the back and killed the one person who I wanted to grow old with. I also learned that he was killed trying to escape the base." I pulled out the black box I had kept with me everyday since that day.

"This box has the ring I was going to give her. I haven't opened it since I bought it and I can't sell it, so I keep it as a reminder that others cannot be trusted. Now if all of you could leave, it's been a long day and I want to get some rest." The story had lasted about three hours. They all left and I went upstairs got into the bed and started to cry.

* * *

POV change: Luna

**Canterlot, Equestria  
Time: 2000 **

I was sitting in the dinning room with my sister. Meals were the only time we actually had to talk. But today I didn't feel like talking. What Steel said was still on my mind. "His best friend betrayed him and killed his marefriend, no wonder why he doesn't trust others. I wonder how long ago that happened." I was lost in my thoughts and didn't see my sister looking at me.

"Luna, is everything alright?" I wasn't paying attention and almost didn't hear her. "Oh, I'm fine. But I'm worried about somepony I know." She looked worried. "Who are they?"

"His name is Flamingsteel, I'm sure Twilight wrote about him in one of her letters." She nodded. "Well today, I found out that he doesn't believe in friendship and after hearing why I don't blame him."

"What? He doesn't believe in friendship? Luna, what happened?" I then told her what Steel told me. After I finished retelling his story, saying she was shocked was an understatement. In fact she looked heartbroken by what Steel had experienced. "I just feel so bad for him. He really needs a friend… that gives me an idea! Sister, can I go spend the next week in Ponyville?" She smiled and nodded. "Thank you. Oh and sister you must not tell anypony what I said, I probably shouldn't have told you. He doesn't want too many ponies knowing about what happened and I don't want to lose his trust."

"I understand. You don't want to lose a friend." We continued to talk about what happened today, but I could tell something was bothering her. "Sister, you seem distracted what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just remembered an old legend our father told me once."

**Authors Note**: Well, now you know why he's antisocial. Review (insert reasons to review here).


	9. Dawn of Music

Chapter 9: Dawn of Music

**Flamingsteel's house, Ponyville  
****Local time: 0900  
****Fourteen days since arrival**

It's been three days since Luna gave me this house. At first it was awkward with the running water, comfy bed, and working kitchen. After living in my old house I got used to not having those things. With nothing else to do I sat down and started thinking about everything including what's happened since I told the other about my past.

"Wow, I would have thought that after hearing my story they would stop trying to be my friend. But it seems it's made them try harder." Looking around the room, my eyes stopped on the record player Vinyl Scratch gave me. "It was a nice gift, too bad I can't use it. I just wish I could use my iPod, but if anypony found out they would ask so many questions. Vinyl seems trustworthy but… well if I'm going to play my music I have no choice but to hope she can keep a secret." With that in mind I got my iPod and went next door to Vinyl's place.

"Oh, hey Steel. This is a surprise, most of the time you leave your house one of us has to get you. Come on in." I went inside and she got some water for us. "Vinyl, I need to know can you keep a secret." She looked at me and her face said 'you're joking right.'

"Of course I can keep a secret. Why do you think nopony knows my eye color?" I smiled, "Good." I took out my iPod and put it on the table. She looked at me with confusion on her face. She was about to ask the obvious question of what is it when I continued talking.

"This device is called an iPod. It stores and plays music, but it can other things like store song sheets, pictures, and the list keeps going." She started laughing. "You're joking, right? Something that small can't do that, not without speakers anyway. And there is no way that you can fit pieces of paper in that."

"Oh, so you need a demonstration." I concentrated on my iPod trying to get it to work. I was extremely surprised when I could see the screen light up and change. "Strange this is much easier than when I tried to get the hang of levitating things." I thought. Unsure of what songs she would like, I just it shuffle and hoped for the best. It's Not Over by Daughtry stated playing. I could tell by the look on her face that she was surprise by what my iPod could do. I also noticed she liked the song. She was speechless after the song finished.

"So Vinyl, I have an offer for you. In exchange for keeping this a secret and making copies of the music so I could play these songs on my record player, you can sell copies of these songs. What do you say?"

"You have yourself a deal. This new type of music will be a hit." She was so excited I thought she was going to explode. "Great, however there are some songs that aren't your style. I was wondering if you knew anypony that can keep a secret and is into classical music." After a few minutes, she though of someone who might be able to help.

"Well there is Octavia, she's a cellist. I don't know her personally, but she is really into classical music." We spent some time 'downloading' some albums from my iPod and after about six hours, I went home and sent a letter to Octavia.

* * *

**Ponyville Markets  
****Local time: 1400  
****Fifteen days since arrival**

I was in the markets selling some of the things from my house I didn't need when I heard my name being mentioned. So naturally I moved close enough to over hear the conversation. Derpy was talking with somepony I didn't know. "…I don't know where he is, but he lives next door to me I'll take you there." They left and I followed them at a safe distance. Derpy went in her house and the other mare approached mine and knocked on the door.

"Excuse me, but can I help you?" The mare turned around and looked at me. "Yes, I'm looking for Flamingsteel. I got a letter from him and need to talk to him as soon as possible. The only thought going through my head was 'Hook, line, and sucker'. "Ok follow me." I lead her over to Vinyl's house and knocked.

"Oh, hey Steel, what are you doing here?" I was about to tell her why we were here when the mare spoke up. "You're Flamingsteel, why didn't you tell me. Well, I'm Octavia. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"We to answer your question Vinyl, I wanted to show Octavia my music. And Octavia, I didn't tell you because I wanted to see the look on your face when you found out. So Vinyl, can we come in?" She nodded and we entered her house. She led us to her recording studio where my iPod was.

"Ok, Octavia in exchange for more music like the one I sent in my letter you must do two things for me. First, you must keep what your about to see a secret and second I have schematics for some instruments and I need you to find somepony to make them. Sound fair to you?"

"Yes, but you have to tell me the name of that song you sent me." I smiled everything was going according to plan. "That song was the theme song for a show from my homeland called Game of Thrones. It's called Main Title by Ramin Djawadi. Not a very creative name, but most peop… ponies don't care."

"Wait, you're telling me you didn't compose this, I just assumed that you were a new artist with amazing talent."

"No, I'm not good at song writing." I showed her my iPod and explained what it could do. "Well, I better go get the schematics for my instruments, don't go anywhere." I left and got the schematics. When I returned I found Vinyl and Octavia talking like old friends. "Well, I guess what they say is true opposites attract." I thought

"Here are the schematics for the instruments." Vinyl and Octavia looked them over. "Steel, these look like guitar schematics, but slightly different." Said Vinyl, Octavia nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, there are different types of guitars. Vinyl, the guitar you have over there is what my people call an Acoustic guitar. These are schematics for an Electric and Bass guitar, they look similar, but make different sounds. They are use to make the music you were listening to yesterday."

"Well Steel, the train back to Canterlot leaves in about ten minutes so I should get going." said Octavia. "I think I know somepony who can make your instruments so I'll send them the schematics. And Vinyl I'll be back in a few days we can start recording the music." As she left I noticed Vinyl following her with her eyes. I also saw a look on her face that I had seen before, the look of love at first sight.

"Well Vinyl, I see you like Octavia." She blushed slightly, "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. "By the way, you were looking at her and by the look on your face you're in love. I remember when a friend of mine looked at a gir… mare like that, too bad for him she was a lesbian."

Vinyl was stammering and trying to respond. "Ok so I felt something I couldn't explain. But that doesn't mean I'm in love with her." I saw the look on her face, she really didn't know what she was feeling. "Sorry, I just assumed, but if that's not how you feel than then I won't say it again."

"Good, anyway I was wondering if you had anything planed for tonight. I'm performing at a club and you need to get out of your house more. Maybe you can make some friends there." I thought about it before shrugging. "Sure, I've got nothing else planed for today."

"Ok, the clubs called the Prancing Pony, meet me outside at ten." I left and returned home, made myself a snack and started to relax when someone knocked on my door. I opened it and saw one of the last ponies I expected to see. "Hello, princess." Luna smiled. "Steel, thou art my friend or at least I hope you will be my friend, there is no need to be so formal."

"Oh, sorry, well what are you doing here?" I started to draw circles on the floor with my hoof since I didn't know what else to do in the presence of royalty. And because, once again, that damn unexplainable feeling come back, its so annoying. "I will be spending the next week in Ponyville and I was wondering if I could stay here."

"You stay here? I uh…um…I guess… sure why not." I led here to the guest room, it was still fully furnished. I smiled, glad I hadn't sold anything from this room yet. "Well here's the guest room. The door on the left is a door to the bathroom and the door next to the window is a closet. I'll just let you settle in."

I went back to the living room to finish my snack and think. "Great she's going to be staying here for a week." I thought. "I guess this means I'm going to have to wear my poncho 24/7 for the next week." I looked at my poncho and saw that it was in need of repairs. "Looks like I'm going to have to go to Rarity's place and get some fabric." As I was thinking of what type of material I would need for a new poncho Luna walked in.

"So Steel, how have things been?" she asked as she sat down next to me. "Fine, Vinyl is making me some records, but other than that nothing has really happened. The girls have come over and taken me to places around Ponyville." We sat there in silence until I heard something and saw Luna blush. "I'm sorry that was very un-lady like thing to do."

I was laughing, she was embarrassed about her stomach growling. "It's all right, you're just hungry. It's like my drill instructor always said, 'If your stomach doesn't growl before every meal you haven't earned your meal.' I'll just make something, I haven't eaten either." I went to the kitchen to make something, but I came to a terrible realization when I open the cabinets. I hadn't gone food shopping, ergo I have no food. "Great, now I get to tell the princess I have no food, just great."

"It's ok, we'll just go out." Completely caught off guard, I rolled to the right and turned around to see Luna standing in the doorway. She was trying not to laugh at what I just did and I just chuckled nervously "Well ok, I don't really know anyplace to get food other than Sugercube Corner. So do you have anyplace specific you want to go?" She smiled and it wasn't a normal smile, it was one of those smiles your friend gives you that makes you want to run.

"I know the perfect place." We left and went to the complete opposite side of Ponyville. When we arrived at the restaurant I was not happy. Just by looking at it I could tell it was one of those high society places where the waiter glares at you if you use the wrong fork for your salad and the name didn't help. "Fancy Fine Dinning, is this the place Luna?"

"Yes, yes it is." The maitre d' wasn't going to give me a table without a reservation until he saw Luna standing behind me. A waiter took us to one of the tables and even though I couldn't catch them, I was sure everypony in the room was looking over at us every once in awhile. God kill me now was the only thought going through my head during the meal. I got a simple salad and some water while Luna got some tea, a salad, and pasta. We both got some cake for desert. Once we finished, the waiter came with the bill. "Here is your bill, sir."

I almost fainted once I saw the cost of our meals. "One hundred and fifty dollars." I thought. "No, one hundred and fifty bits, they use bits not dollars, I wonder what the dollars to bits conversion ratio… damn got to focus." I was about to reach into my saddle bag to see how many bits I had when Luna stopped me. "Wait Steel, I will pay for the meal."

"Are you sure Luna, it's not that big of a deal." She smiled, she defiantly knew that I was lying. "Steel, you are letting me stay in your house for the week, the least I could do is pay for the meal. Besides, the look on your face during the meal was priceless."

"Look, what look?" She was trying not to laugh, unsuccessfully but trying. "Oh your face just screamed 'I would rather be anywhere else', that's actually why I chose this restaurant." I just looked at her unsure I just heard her correctly. "What a princess can't have fun every now and then?" I chuckled, she paid and we left. We started walking and I decided to check my watch, which I had set to the correct time, and saw that it was ten minutes to ten. "I'm sorry Luna, but I have to go."

"Go, go where?" she asked, just my luck. "Well, my neighbor Vinyl invited me to a club and told me to meet her out side at ten, so I should start heading there now." She smiled like she knew something I didn't. "So Steel where exactly is this club?"

"Well it's just… right by… damn. I really should have found out where the Prancing Pony was." I facehoofed while she laughed. "I'll take you there it's been ages since I last went to a club." We walked for about five minutes before I could see it. Just like the club back home, you could hear the music a few blocks away. When we arrived Vinyl was waiting out side.

"Wow Steel, I actually didn't expect to see you here for about another fifteen minutes." She then saw Luna behind me and bowed. "What are you doing here, princess?"

"I'm going to be in Ponyville for the next week so Steel is letting me stay at his house. We were out at dinner when he said he was coming here so I decided to come too. It's been far too long since I was last at a club." Vinyl smiled and I could tell this was going to be a fun night. "Well, it's an honor to have you here princess." "When I'm not doing my royal duties you can just cal me Luna."

We entered the club and Vinyl went to do her thing while Luna and I went to the bar. "Hey barkeep, what do you have?" The bartender told me what there was and as he was talk I couldn't help but think he looked familiar. "Damn, no alcohol." I thought "Well, I'm not surprised, this place didn't have the slightest hint that alcohol existed in the show, why would reality be any different."

"I'll have some apple juice, what do you want Luna?" "Just water." The bartender left and got our drinks. Luna and I sat there enjoying the music. Then Vinyl approached the stage.

"Alright I hope everypony is having a good time. Now I've got some new music from my good friend Flamingsteel." The spot light focused on me and I became the focus of everypony's attention. "Now, hope you like this new sound never before heard in Equestria." She started playing the record and Last Friday Night by Katy Perry started playing.

"Here's your drinks, that'll be ten bits." Once again, as I was going to get my bit when I was stopped. "They're with me Mac, put it on my tab." said Vinyl as she took the seat next to Luna. "So, you're the new stallion in town mah sisters been talkin' bout, I'm Big Macintosh." Well, now I remember where I knew him from. "Your Applejack's brother, right?"

"Eeyup." The four of us talked for awhile before Vinyl decided it was time to take the party to the next level. "Hey Mac, why don't you go get us some of your hard cider." He pondered the idea before shrugging and going in the back. "Hard cider, this is not going to end well." I thought. "Well it won't be that bad. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" Big Mac came back with the hard cider and we started drinking.

**Authors Note:** Hope you enjoyed the Lord of the Rings reference. This is the last time I'm going to say this, sorry if I messed up the accent.


	10. Back in Action

Chapter 10: Back in Action

**Flamingsteel's house, Ponyville  
****Local time: 0530  
****Sixteen days since arrival**

"Uh…" I opened my eyes, but instantly regretted it when the sunrise came into view. "Damn. Worst. Hangover. Ever." Once I my eyes adjusted to the light, I attempted to get out of bed. However, I stopped when somepony wrapped their hooves and wings around me. I rolled over, still in their embrace, and saw Luna in the bed next to me. My eyes widened in surprise. "Oh no, this is not good." Oddly I didn't find this the least bit uncomfortable, I fact I kind of enjoyed it, and that's when I can to a realization. "Wait… the unexplained feelings and now she's in my bed with me and I don't mind." I thought. "Am I falling for Luna? But she's an alicorn and I'm… was a human. Oh no… Me plus Luna plus alcohol plus a bed equals… oh God, I hope we didn't…" Before I could think about it any more Luna started to wake up.

We sat there looking at each other unsure what to do. Luna was blushing and looked embarrassed, when finally I decided to say something. "Um, Luna, not that I don't enjoy hugging you, but could we do it, I don't know, not in my bed." Her blush intensified as she removed herself from me allowing me to stand. As I stood up I noticed that my poncho, which I still had on, had a hole around where my cutie mark would be. "So, uh, how are you feeling?"

She tried to stand but started to fall, luckily I was able to catch her. "Well, that answers that question." She attempted to stand on her own again but leaned on me for support. "Ok, just keep leaning on me we're going to go to the kitchen."

"Any particular reason we're going there?" she asked. "One of the ways to get rid of a hangover is to drink a lot of water." I started to walk to the kitchen with Luna leaning on me for support. When we got to the living room we saw Vinyl asleep on the couch. Luna sat on the couch, waking Vinyl up in the process, while I went to get some water.

* * *

POV change: Luna

As Steel went into the kitchen I started thinking about last night. "Uh, I wish I could remember what happened last night. But I guess it's not that important, what's important was what happened before. I can't believe I just wrapped myself around him, although he did seem to enjoy it even if he was surprised by what I did." I started to mentally scold myself for acting without thinking.

"You like him, don't you?" said Vinyl, I started to blush. "I don't know what you're talking about." I started to chuckle nervously, and I could tell Vinyl saw right through my lie. "Oh really, than why are you blushing? Besides I already know you like him just by how you acted at the club. You like him and I bet you want to be more than just friends with him."

By now my face must have looked like a tomato. "Yes I like him and I want us to be more than friends. But what did you mean by 'how I acted at the club'?" She started laughing, "Well after about twenty glasses of hard cider, you were drunk and Steel was almost drunk. You were leaning on him and you kept staring at him, and when Berry Punch started hitting on him, you almost got into a fight with her."

"Luna almost go in a fight with who?" asked Steel. I was so surprised, I fell off the couch. While we were talking, we didn't notice walk back into the room. "Berry Punch, they were lucky Mac was still sober enough to keep them from fighting."

* * *

POV change: Steel

(A/N: I am no longer going to write out Steel's full name unless it's the first time he's meeting somepony.)

We all started drinking water and I felt my hangover starting to dissipate. "Hey, do you guys mind if I put on some music?" They shook their heads and continued to drink their water. I walked over to my record player and played Brick by Brick by Train. As I walked back to the couch Luna asked one of the few questions I didn't want to answer. "Steel, I've never seen you use magic and I was wondering why you don't."

I made it look like I was upset, "I don't want to talk about it." We sat there drinking water until I felt good enough to go on my daily run. "Well, I'm going out. I'll be back in about two hours." I opened the door and went outside. Just as I was about to shut the door, Luna came outside as well. "So, where are we going, Steel?"

"Well, I'm going on my daily 5k run and I'm going to assume you want to come with me." She nodded, "Ok, but I'm warning you we're taking a path trough the Everfree Forest." I went toward the beginning of the trail and Luna followed me. By now it was about nine and most of Ponyville was awake. As we walked down the street, everypony stopped and bowed as Luna walked past them. As we passed Sugercube Corner, I had the misfortune of walking into the path of a scoter carrying the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Uh mah head. Oh no, are you alright Mister?" asked Apple Bloom. As I started to stand they gasped and stared at my flank. I followed their gaze and saw that my poncho's condition had worsened and it now revealed enough of my flank for everypony to see that I was a blank flank. "Are you a blank flank?" asked Sweetie Bell.

"Yes and I don't like it when people stare." I then checked to see if the rest of my poncho was ok. "How come you never found your special talent?" asked Scootaloo. After finding nothing else wrong with my poncho I started walking away. "I never found my special talent for the same reason I don't know how to use magic. And I don't want to talk about it."

I could tell from Luna's face that she was concerned, but she didn't ask any questions. We arrived at the forest and began the 5k run. After about an hour into the run I started to get a feeling something was wrong. I looked behind me and Luna was still there, then I took a look at the surrounding area. "Uh oh."

"What is it Steel, is something wrong?" I slowly scanned the area looking for any threats. "Well, uh, it appears that we might be, um…lost." Luna immediately started to shake. "But its ok, see that cliff in the distance, that's the half way point. Once we get there I'll be able to get us back to Ponyville." We started to head for the cliff. Once we got there I noticed we were about half a click off to the left of where we were supposed to be.

"Well it looks like we accidentally went to the left instead of the right at the point the path splits. As long as we go north we should be back in about five minutes." Luna seemed to finally relax. We started walking back to Ponyville when Murphy's Law once again slapped me in the face. As we walked along a steep slope Luna accidentally slipped. I tried to keep her from falling, but I ended up falling with her.

"Uh, Luna, are you ok?" She looked at me and smiled. "I'm fine, Steel." She was about to say something else, but a growl from behind me interrupted her. I turned around and found myself looking at a manticore. Normally, I would have stood my ground like they trained me to do back in basic, but with Luna behind me I panicked and said the first thing that came to mind. "Run!"

We ran in the direction of Ponyville hoping the manticore would give up once we reached the edge of the forest. We were about halfway to Ponyville when I crashed into a stone statue of a timber wolf. As I stood up, I saw several more of the statues. The manticore reached us just as I saw some strange reptilian, chicken thing. "Oh no, it's a cockitree," said Luna. "They can turn ponies to stone."

"Great, now we were stuck between a manticore and a cockitree. Luna go to Ponyville and get help, I'll hold them off." She was about to say something when I cut her off. "There is no time to argue. Just go." I could tell she didn't want to leave me behind, but she left anyway. With Luna out of harms way I returned my attention back to my enemies. I always hated this part, whenever I would get in a fight it would feel like hours before someone made the first move, when in reality it was only a few seconds.

The manticore lunged at me and I managed to dodge its attack. It came at me again and again. Unrelenting with its blows, I dodged and blocked almost all of them, but I was beginning to become fatigued. We fought all over the clearing destroying trees and stone timber wolves; everything else in our path was destroyed. For fifteen minutes, I fought and only got scratches, but it was not to last.

The manticore attacked again and I sidestepped left in order to give it a hoof to the face. However as I hit it in the face, its tail found its way to my shoulder. I was able to grab it and break its tail, but by then I knew I would lose this fight. I tried in vain to fight back, which only bought me time. It came at me again and slashed my back with its claws destroying my poncho and creating a long and deep gash in my back. It hit me and sent me flying into the trees at the edge of the clearing. I landed under a dead tree that was being held up by a living tree.

Looking at the trees gave me an idea, a crazy idea, but an idea. I positioned myself in front of the living tree so that the dead tree was on top of me. I stood still as the manticore charged and at the last second I jumped out of the way causing the manticore to break the tree behind and the dead tree it was holding up to fall on the manticore. The manticore howled in pain, pushed the tree off its back, glared at me, and left to fix its wounds. I had beaten the manticore, but at a price. I looked like shit, my back was covered in blood and the wound seemed too deep for it to heal on its own. Multiple pieces of wood from the tree the manticore had crashed into had lodged themselves into my side and hind legs, one particularly large piece had gone trough my entire left hind leg.

In pain and covered in blood I tried to limp in the direction of Ponyville, but then the cockitree, which I had forgotten about, decided to finish what the manticore had started. It jumped in front of me and stared at me, I started losing feeling in my hind legs, I thought it was just due to blood loss. But as the feeling moved from my hind legs to my back, I knew something was wrong and it didn't take me long to figure out that the cockitree was the cause. As I limped towards it I felt my strength diminishing with every step I took. Unable to continue walking I collapsed no more than three feet in front of it. As I attempted, in vain, to crawl towards it I started to lose consciousness and the last thing I saw was its eyes.

* * *

POV change: Luna

After Steel told me to get help, I ran as fast as I could toward Ponyville. I exited the forest on the boarder of Sweet Apple Acers and saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash on a hill off to my right. I galloped over to them and broke down in front of them. I just couldn't stop myself from crying, I couldn't even stop long enough to tell them why I was crying. While I was crying, Rainbow Dash went to get the others while Applejack stayed with me. I didn't realize that Rainbow had left until I saw what appeared to be Twilight and everypony else standing in front of me

"Princess Luna, are you all right, what's going on?" asked Twilight. I looked at her and tried to tell her what happened, but barely anything I said was distinguishable from my sobs. "Steel… in the forest… manticore… cockitree." I burst into tears again and they all gasped. "Princess, can you lead us to where he is?" I nodded and galloped toward where I left Steel with the other right behind me.

We arrived at the clearing and saw it was totally destroyed. But the worst part was that it was covered in blood. We searched the area for any sign of Steel. Rarity was able to find his poncho, but I was losing hope. I was just about to give up when I saw something near the edge of the clearing. I walked over to it and found Steel. One of the things I was afraid of had happened. He had been turned to stone. "NO! Steel!" I collapsed on top of him and cried. The others galloped over to me and when they saw him, they all began to cry too.

Twilight was the first to compose herself enough to think. "Maybe… maybe we can fix this. Fluttershy, Applejack, you go see if you can find the cockitree. Rainbow Dash, go to Zecora's and see if she has anything that could help. Rarity, go get nurse Redheart and have her meet us at Steel's house. The Princess, Pinkie, and I will carry him back to his house." As everpony else left, Twilight and Pinkie lifted Steel and started walking back to Ponyville. I followed them lost in my own thoughts, "I never should have left him. This is entirely my fault. Steel's been turned to stone and I can't do anything to help. And the worst part is that I never even got to tell him that I loved him."

Once we arrived at Steel's house, we put him on his bed. Twilight and Pinkie waited on the couch for the others to arrive, while I went into the guest room and cried. I sat in the guest room for about two hours crying and thinking about what I should have done instead of leaving Steel. I just stayed in the guest room until Vinyl cane to talk with me. "Are you ok, princess?"

"No… it's my fault, I shouldn't have left him. Because of me Steel has been turned to stone." I started to cry again and Vinyl sat down next to me. "It's not your fault, Luna. He stayed behind so you could get help." I just continued to cry, still thinking that it was my fault. "It's ok Luna, the others are trying to help him, and they'll have him back to normal in no time." As she continued to try and cheer me up, Twilight came into the room.

"Princess, Vinyl, we did it. Steel's back to normal. Nurse Redheart and Zecora are healing his wounds right now." We all left the room and joined the others just as Nurse Redheart and Zecora exited Steel's room. We looked at them waiting to her about Steel's condition. "Well, Steel is going to be fine," said Nurse Redheart. "But there is something you all should see." Happy that Steel was alive yet worried about what they found, we followed Nurse Redheart back into Steel's room while Zecora went home.

As we surrounded Steel, we didn't see anything wrong, but we all gasped when we saw that he had wings. "He's an alicorn, but only ponies related to the princesses are alicorns. This isn't possible." As Twilight and the other tried to figure out how it was possible for him to be an alicorn, Nurse Redheart revealed another shocking revelation. "I don't know, but that's not what worries me. He has multiple scars over his body and they appear to be about a few months old." As the others looked at his scars, I looked back at his wounds and noticed that his wings kept twitching.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash…" She looked over at me, "What does it mean when somepony's wings keep twitching?" She looked confused, "What do you mean, princess?"

"Look at Steel's wings, is it normal for them to be twitching constantly?" She hovered over him and looked closer at his wings. "The only reason his wings would be doing that is if he never used them. But that doesn't make any sense, why wouldn't he use his wings?"

"It seems the more we know about Steel the more mysterious he becomes. I can't help but feel sorry for him, while he has the ability to fly and use magic, he doesn't know how to use magic and he has never flown." Before anything else could be said, Steel started to wake up.

* * *

POV change: Steel

As I regained consciousness, I heard voices but couldn't make out what they were saying. "…aking u… t some wat… eel can y… me. Ste… k?" My vision started to return and I saw multiple multi-colored blurs around me. I shook my head trying to clear the fog that surrounded my mind. Eventually, I was able to regain my senses.

"Steel, are you ok?" Luna asked. I looked at her and, even with my vision still blurry, from the tears in her eyes I could tell she blamed herself for what happened. I opened my mouth to respond, but found my throat too dry to say anything. I noticed a glass of water on the table next to me and tried to grab it, but Luna stopped me and levitated it over to me and I quickly emptied the glass. "Yeah, I'm fine Luna." I could tell they were all relieved to hear me talk. Then I noticed another pony in the room I didn't know. "I take it you were the one who patched me up?" She had a confused look on her face. "It's an expression. It's just means that you healed me. Anyway, I'm in your dept miss…" She smiled, "Redheart, Nurse Redheart. And there is no need to thank me, I was only doing my job."

Luna then put her head on my chest and started to cry. "I'm sorry Steel, it's all my fault. I never should have left you in the forest. I should have helped." She said between sobs. I could help, but remember all the time I could have done something different that could have saved a fellow soldier's life.

"Stop saying that, Luna. It isn't your fault." She looked at me confused with tears still in her eyes. "I told you to go get help, I told you to leave. If it's anyponies fault, it's mine." She stopped crying and looked at me and smiled. Unfortunately, I could see through her smile and knew she still blamed herself. I tried to get up, but Luna pushed me back onto the bed. That's when I noticed that my wings were exposed and tried to use the blanket to cover them.

"It's ok, Steel we know." said Twilight, I looked at the ground thinking that they would be pissed. "Steel, it's ok, we don't feel any different about you. We just want to know why you didn't tell us that you were an alicorn." I sighed and looked out the window. They looked sad that I wouldn't tell them and they started to leave before I spoke up.

"I didn't tell you for one reason, it's the same reason I haven't told you about my past… I just didn't want you guys to treat me different. You are the first ponies in a long time that I could call my friends." They all looked at me like I was crazy. Rarity was the first speak up. "Darling, why would you think we would treat you differently? Yes, we probably would have bowed and treated you like royalty. But if you asked us to stop we would have."

"Yeh, we don't care what ya look like. But ah have to know, where did ya get them scars?"

"I'd rather not tell anymore ponies than necessary, so I think I should tell Celestia first, and then she can decide who else needs to know. Besides one of you are going to tell her I'm an alicorn, so I'm going to meet her anyway."

"Twilight will send her a message later and knowing my sister she'll probably want to meet you tomorrow." said Luna. "But for now we should make sure you get better." Eventually the others left leaving me and Luna alone. Every time I tried to do something, she would push me back on the bed and do it herself. Twilight had sent Spike over to tell us that Celestia did indeed want to see me tomorrow. At about ten, I decided it was time to go to bed. As I got ready for bed I noticed Luna had a look on her face that screamed, 'I want to ask you a question, but I'm too nervous.' "Ok, Luna what is your question." She scratched the back of her neck with her hoof. "Well, um, since you're hurt I was wondering if I could, um, maybe… sleep in here with you? You know, just incase you need something, or anything."

"Fine, but only if you're sure this would be ok with your sister." She was confused by my question and she got even more confused when I moved to the right side of the bed. "Um, Steel, what are you doing?"

"Well I can't let you sleep on the floor, you'd never fall asleep on that. Besides you're a princess, you should get the best I can offer and since you want to stay here with me this is the best I can offer. What did you think I meant when I asked if it would be ok with your sister?" She blushed and lay down on the left side of the bed. "Goodnight Steel."

"Goodnight Luna." As we fell asleep I kept thinking. "I just hope Celestia doesn't over react to my past."

* * *

**Canterlot castle, Canterlot  
****Local time: 1200  
****Seventeen days since arrival**

As the doors to the throne room opened, I thought back to this morning. I woke up at my usual time and tried to do my morning workout, but my wounds prevented me from doing anything more than walking. Luna had left before I woke up to attend to some royal duties or something, so I went to the market and finally bought some food and put in my cabinets. At abouteight, Celestia sent a chariot and a squad of guards to pick me up. Just as the chariot landed Derpy gave me a letter from Octavia saying that my instruments were built and to go to Canterlot to pick them up as soon as possible. Along with the letter was the address of the place where my instruments were. We arrived at the castle and as I was lead trough the castle I noticed the vast amount of guards that were there, to me it seamed like overkill. As we walked down multiple hallways and passed an unknown amount of doors, I noticed there were only guards in the hallways we went down, making me nervous. As I walked into the throne room all I could think was, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..."

**Authors Note:** Next chapter Steel's past will be revealed and there will be a few surprises you'll never see coming.


	11. A New Beginning

Chapter 11: A New Beginning

**Canterlot Castle, Canterlot  
****Local time: 1202  
****Seventeen days since arrival**

When I entered the throne room, I noticed that both Celestia and Luna were on the other side of the room along with Shinning Armor. As I approached them, Luna gave me a comforting smile while Shinning Armor watched me incase I was a danger to the princesses. Celestia looked at me with curiosity in her eyes. When I reached the first step, I bowed as Celestia descended the stairs and stopped in front of me.

"So you're Flamingsteel." I just nodded. "I've heard a lot about you from my sister and Twilight. Luna told me how you kept her safe in the Everfree Forest and for that you have my thanks. However, I need to know about your past, and more specifically, how you were born an alicorn without my knowledge, and also, how you obtained the scars that cover your body."

I stood there gathering my courage because telling them my past is a one way trip. "Are you sure you want to know, princess?" She nodded and all I could think was, "This is it." But before I could tell them about my past, I noticed the shadows behind Luna move. They morphed into three pitch black griffins with glowing red eyes. They slowly approached Luna, careful not to make any noise. Their actions made it clear they were not friendly. Within seconds my combat training kicked in.

I sprinted toward Luna shouting, "Luna! Look out, behind you!" Time seemed to slow down as I ran up the stairs, Luna turned around and all I could think was, "If only I was faster." Almost instantly there was a bright flash and I appeared in between Luna and the griffins. Surprised by what happened, I momentarily forgot about the griffins and allowed one of them to slash my chest. After returning my focus to the griffins, I tripped one and hit another in the throat, causing it to explode into black mist. By the time Celestia and Shinning Armor reached us, the remaining griffins had forgotten about Luna and were circling me. They ran towards me and I broke the leg of one of them while dodging the claws of the other. As me and the griffin traded blows, Shinning Armor restrained the wounded griffin. I let the griffin slash my flank, which destroyed my saddlebag and spilled its contents on the floor, allowing me to buck it in the face. Once my hooves made contact with its skull it exploded into another cloud of black mist.

I limped over to the captured griffin, grabbed it, and was about to interrogate it when it melted into a cloud of black mist. However, unlike the first two, which dissipated into nothing, this cloud stayed together and flew out the window. I was about to follow it, but the adrenalin in my body ran out and the pain from my wounds hit me like a freight train and I collapsed. "Steel, are you ok?" asked Luna. But because I hadn't healed from my fight with the manticore, I barely had the energy to shake my head. And the last thing I saw before blacking out was Luna putting me on her back and taking me to another part of the castle.

* * *

**Three hours later…**

As I opened my eyes I saw that I was in a white room and somepony was sitting next to my bed. But, because of how blurry my vision was I couldn't tell who it was. They must have noticed that I was awake and trying to look around because they stood up and moved closer to me. After a few minutes, my vision returned to normal and I saw that the pony next to me was Luna. "Oh, hey Luna."

She was overjoyed that I was ok and hugged me, "Steel, you're ok! I was so worried." I could tell she was trying not to cry. "They doctors said that because of what happened yesterday you were lucky to survive. But they also said that… that you might never regain consciousness." By now she was crying, I just held her and tried to comfort her.

"It's ok, Luna. I'm fine. Besides, I couldn't let anypony hurt one of the princesses, especially if she's my best friend." She stopped crying and looked at me.

"I'm your best friend?" I smiled and nodded. ""I can't believe you think I'm your best friend. Most ponies are still afraid of me. When they look at me, they don't see Princess Luna they see Nightmare Moon. Even though most of them bow and show me respect I can still tell nopony likes me." Her story is all too familiar.

"Believe it or not I know what that's like. I went and served my country, but when I came home, was I called a hero or shown respect? No, I was called names. Monster, killer, murderer. All because I did what needed to be done." Luna saw the look in my eyes as I recalled that dark part of my past and decided to talk about something else.

"Steel, while you were unconscious the guards repaired your saddlebag and collected your things. While they were getting your stuff, I saw the note from Octavia saying your instruments were ready to be picked up, so I sent one of my guards to get them for you." As she said this she got my guitars from somewhere outside my field of vision. I leaned the bass guitar against the table next to the bed and checked the electric guitar. It looked exactly like the one I used to have so I decided to play a few chords. As I played I saw Luna stare at me, surprised at how good I was. I was also surprised that I could play the guitar with hooves. "Wow, Steel. You're really good." I smiled, it's been way too long since someone complimented me. "So, do you know any songs?" I just smiled and thought of a song.

(Little Wonders by Rob Thomas)

_Let it go,_  
_Let it roll right off your shoulder_  
_Don't you know_  
_The hardest part is over_  
_Let it in,_  
_Let your clarity define you_  
_In the end_  
_We will only just remember how it feels_

_Our lives are made_  
_In these small hours_  
_These little wonders,_  
_These twists and turns of fate_  
_Time falls away,_  
_But these small hours,_  
_These small hours still remain_

_Let it slide,_  
_Let your troubles fall behind you_  
_Let it shine_  
_Until you feel it all around you_  
_And I don't mind_  
_If it's me you need to turn to_  
_We'll get by,_  
_It's the heart that really matters in the end_

_Our lives are made_  
_In these small hours_  
_These little wonders,_  
_These twists and turns of fate_  
_Time falls away,_  
_But these small hours,_  
_These small hours still remain_

When I started playing this part, I noticed Celestia standing in the doorway. I could tell she was happy that her sister was smiling and surprised by my talents.

_All of my regret  
Will wash away some how  
But I can not forget  
The way I feel right now_

_In these small hours_  
_These little wonders_  
_These twists and turns of fate_  
_These twists and turns of fate_  
_Time falls away but these small hours_  
_These small hours, still remain,_  
_Still remain_  
_These little wonders_  
_These twists and turns of fate_  
_Time falls away_  
_But these small hours_  
_These little wonders still remain_

"Steel! That was amazing!" exclaimed Luna. "You can play that instrument and you can sing! You must be really talented. But I'm confused… I thought you said you couldn't use magic?" Now it was my turn to be confused. "No… I can't use magic, why?"

"Because we have seen you use magic twice today." said Celestia. "You teleported when we were attacked in the throne room and just now you used a spell I'm not familiar with."

"But I didn't use any spell, all I did was play my guitar." Luna looked confused, "But Steel, I saw you use the spell." Celestia nodded in agreement, "While you were playing your horn glowed a silver color and I heard the sounds of other instruments."

"But that's impossible I don't know how to use magic." Celestia smiled and shook her head. "You did use a spell, you just didn't know it. With some training, I'm sure you could learn how to control your magical abilities and I'm also sure Luna wouldn't mind teaching you."

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I can't accept your offer. I don't feel right about receiving a gift without giving one as well." As I was talking, I noticed that Luna kept glancing over at my guitars and Celestia saw this too. Then I had an idea. "I've got it, Luna can teach me about magic and I can teach her how to play the guitar, if it's ok with her." She was so excited that when she hugged me she nearly crushed me. "I'll take that as a yes. But, Luna could you let go… your hug… can't breathe." She let go and I saw her blushing.

"Well Steel, the doctors said you are healthy enough to leave the hospital, but you should remain in Canterlot for the next week just incase. After you tell us about your past and the party Luna will escort you to your room."

I sighed. "You really want to know about my past, fine. But you won't like what you find. I'll start with the short version." As I looked out the window I began my tale. "I'm not really a pony, I wasn't born one. I'm not even from this world, I'm from a different time, planet, or dimension… in fact I'm not even sure. I joined the military and was given the rank of corporal. I served for two years in the army. I was a soldier, I served my country by killing others so the people back home could live in peace. On the way back home from the battlefield I was attacked and died, allowing two of my fellow soldiers to escape, then the entity that controls the afterlife, who we call God, sent me here. But judging by the looks on your faces you want to hear my story from the very beginning. I was born on April 2, 1990 in a city called New York…" I told them about my life from my childhood to my death. I also told them about my mom, my sister and the rest of my family, only then realizing how much I missed them. I left out the part about us viewing their world on TV. "… I was wounded and stayed behind so the rest of my team could escape. After I died, I entered the afterlife where I was given a second chance to rediscover two things I lost in my life, happiness and friendship. I was sent here and turned into the alicorn you see now." I continued to look out the window and mentally prepared myself for when they tell the guards to put me in the dungeon or kill me. But, I was wrong. Instead of acting hostile towards me they only showed me kindness. Luna hugged me, "I'm sorry you had to go through all that." Celestia nodded in agreement.

"So, you're not afraid of me?" They shook their heads, "But I not from this world, I have advanced combat training. I could be a threat to your safety or the safety of your ponies."

"But you are not a threat, you have proven this when you saved my sister twice. There are two things I want to know before we go to the party. First, what was your race called? You have told us about the achievements of your species and your life but you have yet to tell us what you call yourselves. And second what is your real name?"

"My real name was Daniel, but everyone I knew called me Dan. We call ourselves humans."

"But that's impossible, humans are only a myth!" said Celestia. Luna started to draw circle on the floor with her hoof, "Well that's not entirely true. Steel… er… Dan has a picture of humans, I check it and it was real, and he also had a bad dream that had humans." I looked at her, "Luna, you can still call me Steel. And that wasn't a dream, it was a memory." I looked back at Celestia, "Besides you're talking to a person who clams he is from a different world and was turned into a pony and you're saying it's impossible. Besides on earth, unicorns and pegusi are considered myths."

"So on your world unicorns, pegusi and alicorns are considered myths." said Luna, "What about earth ponies?"

"Actually, only unicorns and pegusi are myths. Alicorns are not myths, the term alicorn was created when people created ponies with wings and horns for fictional stories, it's quite a coincidence you call your selves alicorns too. (I thought to myself, if they ever find out I'm lying to them, they'd be so pissed.) And earth ponies… well, there are ponies on our planet, but they are no more than mindless beasts." They both looked sad knowing there is or was a group of ponies that couldn't think. There was an awkward silence until Celestia spoke up. "Well, we can talk more about your past later, Steel. Right now we should go to the party." As we started to leave Celestia stopped me, "Steel, you need to tell the rest of your friends about your past. I suggest doing it when you return to Ponyville."

"Fine, I'll tell them when I get back." We started to walk down the hall when Luna asked another question, "Wait, you never told us how you got those scars." I stopped walking, "I'd rather not talk about it more than once and hopefully they will be covered when my coat grows back, I don't like to be reminded of what happened. I still can't believe that nurse Redheart had to shave my back. By the way, what is the party for?" Luna started to giggle while Celestia smiled.

"The party is for you, Steel. It's to celebrate your heroic actions when you saved Luna. But it's also to celebrate you earning your cutie mark." After she said that I looked at my flank and saw that I had earned my cutie mark. My cutie mark was an iPod that was turned horizontally with five fifty caliber bullets lined up in front of it. "It's perfect, when did I get it?"

As I was carrying you to the medical wing my sister noticed it. But you could have gotten it during the fight." said Luna. "Steel, your cutie mark, what is it?"

"The five pointy cylinders are bullets, they are used by soldiers. They represent my ability to protect others and my ability to fight. The black object behind them is an iPod, it can store and play music, you can read books on it, you can play games on it, and it does much more. The iPod represents my ability to be more than a soldier, but having the iPod behind the bullets means I'm always a soldier first."

When we arrived at the party in noticed that Vinyl, Twilight and all my other friends were there, even Octavia came. They congratulated me, we partied, and talked about what had happened. Eventually, Octavia went home, the others went back to Ponyville, and Luna took me to my room. When I saw my room, it reminded me of the rooms kings had in Europe during the medieval times.

"Here is your room. If you ever need anything my room is across the hall." She left and I got in the bed. As I started to fall asleep I thought about my friendship with Luna. "I can't believe it, even after learning about my past and my origins, she still wants to be my friend. Perhaps my life is going to start getting better."

* * *

POV change: ?

**Location: Unknown  
****Time: 0000**

A cloud of black mist flew silently through a forest into a cave. Once it entered the cave, it took the form of a griffin, but when it landed on the floor, steel chains burst from the ground tied it up and forced it to the ground.

"You are a failure, and normally I would kill you in the most entertaining way possible. But, even though you failed to kill the princesses, you have brought me valuable intelligence so I will kill you quickly." The chains vanished but before the griffin could move a beam of pure dark energy came from the shadows and killed it, causing it to explode into a black mist.

"So this new alicorn is friends with Princess Luna. This is too easy. All I need to do is capture him and use him to bring Luna to me. And once her sister is missing, Celestia will go looking for her and fall into my trap. However, his ability to fight is a minor inconvenience... Flamingsteel, you will help me one way or another." An evil laugh echoed throughout the cave while the shadows left the cave in search of a better place to plot.


	12. Truth and Reconciliation

Chapter 12: Truth and Reconciliation

**Canterlot castle, Canterlot  
****Local time: 0800  
****Twenty-four days since arrival**

It's been a week since I saved Luna from the griffins. Shinning Armor conducted a very through search of the castle, city, and surrounding area but found no trace of the griffin that escaped. In response the amount of guards in the castle has tripled and guards are patrolling the streets of Canterlot. My coat has started to grow back, but it's pretty uneven. Two days after the assassination attempt, Luna started teaching me how to use magic and I started teaching her how to play the guitar. Currently, I know three spells: telekinesis, teleportation, and the spell that lets me create the sound of other instruments with my mind. Even though I haven't come up with a name for that spell, I attempted to teach it to Luna. Every attempt has ended in failure. Luna has learned all the notes for the guitar and now knows as much as someone who's been playing for a year. It's surprising how quickly she learned everything.

Whenever Luna and I weren't teaching/learning, we just hung out or talked. Due to her royal duties, I haven't spent a lot of time with Celestia. Sometime when Luna and I talked, our conversations would bring up our dark pasts. A few years ago, a doctor told me the best way to recover from my experiences was to talk about them with someone who went through something similar. Back then I thought he was insane, but now I know he was right. Talking with Luna about my past has helped me a lot, and I think she feels better after talking about her past, too.

After all the time we have spent together, she has become my best friend and I've also identified what the feelings I have whenever she's around me are. It appears my heart is telling me I like Luna as more than a friend, but I can't accept it. She's a pony and I'm not. It wouldn't be fair to her. Today I return to Ponyville, and true to my word, I'll tell the rest of my friends about my past. I'm just not sure how to tell them, and I'll tell everypony how I got my scars. I still can't believe that I let Celestia talk me into keeping a journal. I guess I shouldn't have complained that I was so bored.

"Well that's done, and the fabrics I wanted should be here soon. So I guess I'll play some music..." I took out my electric guitar and started playing whatever song popped into my head.

* * *

POV change: Luna

As I went to meet my sister, I couldn't help but wonder why she wanted to speak with me. As soon as I entered her room, she shut the door and cast a spell to prevent our voices from being heard outside the room. "Luna, sit down we need to talk." I sat down and she sat down next to me. "Do you want some tea?" I nodded and she poured two cups. We sat there drinking our tea and I could tell she didn't really know how to start the conversation she wanted to have. "We need to talk about Steel. Well, we need to talk about you and Steel." This caused me to choke on my tea. "W-what do you mean?"

"I've seen the way you look at him, you like as more than a friend and it's my duty as your sister to talk to you about this."

"Fine, I like him and I think I'm in love with him. But it's not right. I haven't known him for more than a month yet. I shouldn't feel this way. But I've never felt this way before, I'm so confused Tia." By this time, I was hysteric and she put her wing around me in an attempt to comfort me.

"It's ok, I've seen this before. You're in love with him, but you don't want to chase him away by moving too fast." I frowned, "But Tia I don't know if he feels the same way, what if I ruin our friendship?" She seemed unsure what to tell me. "The best way for you to decide what to do, is to find out how he feels. If he loves you the same way you love him then you'll be able to make a decision."

"Thanks Tia, I should probably go get him. We're leaving soon." I left and went to get Steel. As I walked, I kept thinking about what Tia said. "She's right. I can't make a decision until I know how Steel feels. But what if he doesn't feel the same way? The last thing I need is to lose a friend. Most ponies still don't trust me." As I thought about what could happen if I told Steel how I felt, I heard music coming from his room, but I couldn't hear all the words. "Un-break your heart… the genetically modified salamander, with a face just like George Clooney... Never again, to be lonely, never again to be without a home, never... never again, never again, never again to be put down… soaring over it all, high up in the clouds, never again, never again…" When I entered the room, I saw Steel lying on the bed playing his guitar and as soon as he saw me, he stopped playing.

* * *

POV change: Steel

Once I saw Luna, I stopped playing my guitar and looked at her, "Steel, its time to go." I nodded put my guitar back in the case and levitated my new poncho over to myself. My new poncho had an urban camouflage design, with my cutie mark on both flanks and it was made from silk. As I put it on, I noticed Luna looking at me. "Steel, why do you have that? We already know you're an alicorn."

"Yeah _you_ know, but the rest of Ponyville doesn't. Let's go. We can't keep the train waiting forever." I grabbed my guitars and spare poncho (Forest camouflage) and followed Luna to the train station. When we arrived I noticed that there were some guards waiting by the train and a few of them came with us onto the train. As the train started to leave, I started looking around for Celestia, but I couldn't see her. Surely she wanted to know about the rest of my past. Luna must have seen me looking around because she addressed my concerns. "Don't worry Steel, my sister will meet us in Ponyville later. She just had a few things to take care of." I nodded and looked out the window for the rest of the trip.

When we arrived in Ponyville, we went straight to the library. We didn't even stop to drop off my stuff at my house. As we entered the library, I saw that all my friends were present including Derpy, Vinyl, and Octavia. I also saw Shinning Armor and somepony I didn't know talking to Twilight. Normally I wouldn't care, but this pony was also an alicorn. As I walked by, Twilight called me over. "Steel, I want to introduce you to my brother and his wife."

"Shinning Armor is your brother?" She nodded, "Shinning is my brother and this is his wife Princess Cadance, who also happens to have been my foalsitter." I immediately tried to bow, but couldn't due to my injuries. Luna then came over and led me to a couch. "Steel, you shouldn't be bending over. Your back isn't fully healed." As Luna helped me onto the couch, I noticed Cadance looking at us and as soon as I looked at her she smiled. And it wasn't a normal smile, it was a smile that screamed 'I know.' I returned her smile with a confused look causing her to frown. I'll have to talk to her later. I sat on the couch trying to figure out how to tell them about my past, while everpony else talked. After awhile, Celestia arrived, and it was time for me to tell them about my past. "Alright everypony, I think its time for Steel to tell you about his past."

They all gathered around me waiting for me to tell my tale. "Wow… I honestly though telling this story the second time would be easier… why couldn't I be right." I started telling them the same thing I told Celestia, Luna and Shinning Armor, but this time I told them about the show. Saying they were surprised is an understatement. They had no idea how it was possible for people from my world to view their world, I guess it's just another mystery that will never be solved. The story took about an hour and when I was finished I was unprepared for their reactions. Pinkie Pie started asking random questions, Twilight asked questions about the Human Race, Rarity passed out from shock, Applejack was speechless, Candice and Fluttershy just stared at me and Rainbow Dash was watching me like I was a potential threat to her friends. "Quiet! Now, you can ask me any thing one at a time. Twilight, because you're going to want to know everything, you're going to be last." I started with Pinkie, just to get her out of the way. She asked about the types of parties humans would through. I then moved on to Applejack who asked about farming techniques and Fluttershy who asked about the animals and the weather. They all gasped when I told them the animals fended for themselves and the weather happened naturally. Rarity asked about fashion which I had no knowledge in and Cadance had no questions which surprised me. "We what type of guards do you have?" asked Shinning Armor.

"Well, we have the police force which deals with minor crimes, the FBI and CIA that deal with major crimes and the army that deal with threats from other countries." He looked confused, "Don't you have good relations with the other nations?" I sighed. "Not all of them. My country has good relations with most of the other countries, but there are a few that would like to see my country destroyed." He asked some more questions about the military and I told him about the Army, Navy, and Air Force. I also talked a little about the National Guard, Marines, Navy Seals, Army Rangers, and the joint task forces we have with other nations. After he was done, it was Rainbow Dash's turn to ask questions, great.

She flew right up in my face before asking her questions. "Alright, how come you didn't trust us enough to tell us this before?" I pushed out of my face, "Why do you think? Would you have believed me if I told you I wasn't really a pony? 'I'm glad you guys are my friends, by the way I'm not even a pony. I'm really something called a human from a different planet, dimension…' you get the idea. You guys would have thrown me into the loony bin once I told you." Chuckled and scratched the back of her head indicating that she would have thrown me into the loony bin. She asked me a few more questions about different things. Once she heard about NASCAR, I must have talked about it for an hour.

When I finally got to Derpy, she asked about the mail system and the types of muffins humans made. Octavia and Vinyl asked questions about music, shocker. By the time I reached Twilight, she was ready to explode from excitement. She asked questions about everything and I mean everything, from history to physics, from our diet to our technology, and everything in between. They were all surprised that humans couldn't use magic and disgusted when the found out we ate meat. She was extremely fascinated by airplanes and helicopters. "I don't believe it you found a way to fly without wings, how fast do they go? How big are they? Can anypony use them?"

"Well, if you can pay for a ticket you can use them. Their speed is determined by their size, weight, and engine power. Rainbow could probably fly circles around the larger passenger and cargo planes. But she would have problems keeping up with planes that could break the sound barrier and one that could fly extremely high." They all stared at me when they found out that there were planes that could break the sound barrier at will. "Wow. If you guys are surprised by that I better not tell you anything else." Twilight looked like she had been slapped in the face. "There's more, how can there be more?" I chuckled, "Well I haven't talked about rockets and space shuttles." If it was possible all of their jaws, including the princesses', would be on the ground. "Before you ask, no not everypony can use them. Only the extremely rich and government workers, called astronauts, can use them. We even managed to build a working building in orbit around the planet. Last question Twilight, you look like your ready to pass out from everything you've learned." She pouted, "Fine. What the farthest that one of your space craft has gone." I smiled, "You probably won't believe me, but we've put people on the moon." I saw Luna look saddened by this, "Don't worry Luna they weren't banished there." We took a small break so Celestia could lower the sun and Luna could raise the moon. They asked a few more questions before Celestia reminded me why she was here. "Steel, you've answered our questions and we've been talking for hours, but you still haven't told us how you got those scars"

I sighed. "I was honestly hoping you had forgotten about that. *sigh* About four months before I came here, I was captured by a group of enemy soldiers who ambushed the me and a group of other soldiers. They took me to one of their many hidden bases. For six weeks, I was tortured for information that they never got, at least not from me. Eventually, they gave up and strapped an IED…" They all looked at me confused. "It's a device that explodes. Anyway, they strapped it to my body hoping they could use me to kill others. They forced me into a market filled with innocent people. Luckily for me, my friends were walking past and saw me. The enemy soldiers were captured, the bomb squad was called in, and the IED was removed. When I got back to base, the doctors told me that the wounds would heal but I would have some scars. That's why I have these scars and please don't make me tell this story again, the memories are too painful." They all looked sad and pulled me into a group hug. After a few more questions, I decided it was time to go home. "Guys, it's been a long day so I'm going to head home and just relax." As I walked towards the door, Twilight stopped me. "Steel, there's one more thing I want to know. I know this spell that would show what your true self is. For example, earth ponies who have always wanted to fly ask a unicorn to cast this spell on them and if they turn into a Pegasus, then they're a Pegasus at heart. By using this spell, we could see what you looked like when you were human. After thinking about it I just shrugged, what the worst that could happen. She cast the spell on me and luckily it wasn't painful. After it was finished, I stood in front of them in my army uniform as a human. They looked at my body and after a few minutes we heard something from out side.

"Are you sure about this, Lyra?" "I'm sure, Bon Bon. I made this spell myself after years of research," said the one called Lyra. "I guess so, but the last time you used the spell, it brought you to that new pony Flamingsteel," retorted Bon Bon. "Yes but its stronger this time. I know there's a human around her somewhere." Realizing that they were looking for me I looked for a place to hid and climbed into the rafters. "They entered the library and the pony I'm assuming is Lyra began running in circles while everypony else watched. Eventually, she stopped right under me, "I don't understand it should be right here." She started looking around and, by sheer luck, looked up and saw me. My body started to feel funny so I jumped down assuming that I was turning back into a pony. Lyra was so happy that she proved humans existed that she didn't notice me starting to turn back into a pony, but Bon Bon did, and could only stare as I turned back into a pony. Celestia pulled them both to the side as I started to leave most likely to tell them not to say anything about what they saw or something along those lines.

When I left the library, Luna followed me back to my house. We talked on our way they and apparently she's going to stay here for a few days to make sure I'm ok, I don't think it's necessary, but who am I to argue with a princess. As soon as I opened the door to my house, I knew something was off. I barely saw the form of a pony shift in the shadows. Normally I wouldn't notice, but I've been on high alert since the assassination attempt. I slowly moved into a fighting stance and motioned for Luna to get behind me. As I walked into my house I could smell baked goods and saw the outline of a table, "They didn't…"

**Authors Note:** Not sure if I like how this chapter came out so I might rewrite it.


	13. A Party, Plans and a Mistake

Chapter 13: A Party, Plans and a Mistake

**Steel's house, Ponyville  
****Local time: 2000  
****Twenty-four days since arrival**

"Happy birthday, Steel!" I looked at them while I tried to figure out how they got here and put this together in about three minutes. Pinkie noticed my reaction and her hair went straight. "You don't like it?"

"I… uh… How?" She looked at me and as I continued to talk her hair started to turn back to its original shape. "How? In three minutes you were able to get here before me and set up this party. That's impossible, even for you, Pinkie. You can break the laws of physics all you want but unless you can slowdown time or go back in time you couldn't have set up… this… party." That's when it clicked. I looked at Celestia with a smirk, "So this is what you were doing before… well, let's get this party started."

We did various party activities, like pin the tail on the pony, which is identical to pin the tail on the donkey. There was a record player set up in a corner, but it seamed a little too boring for me so I went over to talk to Vinyl. "Hey Vinyl, could you do me a favor? Go next door to your place grab my iPod and some speakers, I think its time to shift this party into the next gear." She looked at me confused, "It's an expression, I'll explain later just go." While Vinyl was getting the stuff and everypony else seemed occupied doing various party activities, I decided to talk to Cadance about the look she gave me before.

"Hey, can we talk?" She nodded and I lead her over to a part of the room where nopony would overhear our conversation. "So… what was with that look you gave me before?" She stared to look around making sure nopony was watching us. "I think this is a conversation that we should have when we're alone."

"You're not in hitting on me, are you? Because you're married and I… kind of have a… crush on somepony else." She chuckled and shook her head, "No, it's not like that. I'll explain more when we can talk alone." I opened my mouth to say something else, but closed it, shook my head, and went back to enjoying the party. After some more partying, Vinyl returned and after everything was set up I played my party mix. I started dancing and soon the others joined me… well I should say I attempted to dance. It was more like sporadic arm waving and some shuffling. My attempt at dancing continued for a while until Gangnam Style came on. Since I had a basic idea of how the 'dance' went I actually looked like I was dancing. Needless to say, my dancing had everypony's attention. After the song was over they all stared at me and since Gangnam Style was the last song in the playlist, we had an awkward silence. Luckily, Twilight broke the silence and asked me a question completely unrelated to my dancing.

"What was that, Steel? I didn't recognize most of those words." When we were back at the library, Twilight was asking me questions about my world. I told her how there were many different languages. I didn't teach her how to speak any of the ones I knew because that would have taken hours. "That's because they were in a different language and the song is in a language called Korean, from the country of Korea. It's actually one of the three other languages I know." My response caused Rainbow to start laughing.

"You've got to be kidding! There's no way. You're an egghead." Rainbow said dismissively. I smiled and played Gangnam Style again using my magic to effectively mute the words.

_Oppan Gangnam Style  
Gangnam Style_

Na je nun ta sa ro un in gan jo gin yo ja  
Ko pi han ja ne yo yu rul a neun pum gyo gi nun yo ja  
Ba mi o myon shim ja ngi tu go wo ji nun yo ja  
Gu ron ban jon i nun yo ja

Na nun sa na ye  
Na je nun no man kum ta sa ro un gu ron sa na ye  
Ko pi shik gi do jo ne one shot te ri nun sa na ye  
Ba mi o myon shim ja ngi to jyo bo ri nun sa na ye  
Gu ron sa na ye

A rum de wo sa rang su ro wo  
Gu re no hey gu re ba ro no hey  
A reum de wo sa rang su ro wo  
Gu re no hey gu re ba ro no hey  
Ji gum bu to gal de ka ji ga bol ka

Oppan Gangnam Style  
Gangnam Style  
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style  
Gangnam Style  
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style

Eh~ Sexy lady  
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style  
Eh~ Sexy lady  
Op op op op  
Eh eh eh eh eh eh

Jong su ke bo wi ji man nol ten no nun yo ja  
I te da shi pu myon mu ko ton mo ri pu nun yo ja  
Ga ryot ji man wen man han no chul boda ya han yo ja  
Gu ron gam gak jo gin yo ja

Na nun sa na ye  
Jom ja na bo wi ji man nol ten no nun sa na ye  
Te ga dwe myon wan jon mi cho bo ri nun sa na ye  
Gun yuk bo da sa sa ngi ul tung bul tu ngan sa na ye  
Gu ron sa na ye

A rum de wo sa rang su ro wo  
Gu re no hey gu re ba ro no hey  
A reum de wo sa rang su ro wo  
Gu re no hey gu re ba ro no hey  
Ji gum bu to gal de ka ji ga bol ka

Oppan Gangnam Style  
Gangnam Style  
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style  
Gangnam Style  
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style

Eh~ Sexy lady  
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style  
Eh~ Sexy lady  
Op op op op  
Eh eh eh eh eh eh

Twi nun nom gu wi ye na nun nom  
Baby baby na nun mol jom a nun nom  
Twi nun nom gu wi ye na nun nom  
Baby baby na nun mol jom a nun nom  
You know what I'm saying

Oppan Gangnam Style  
Eh eh eh eh eh eh

Eh~ Sexy lady  
Op op op op oppan Gangnam Style  
Eh~ Sexy lady  
Op op op op  
Eh eh eh eh eh eh

Oppan Gangnam Style

After the song ended, Rainbow, who had been hovering next to me, was on the ground trying to comprehend how I could be athletic and an egghead at the same time which caused me to chuckle. Everypony was stunned by my performance. Twilight and Luna finally recovered from the shock they were both about to say something when I intervened. "Twilight, why don't you let Luna speak first, I see that look on your face. You want to ask me more questions and we both know that you tend to go overboard with your questions." She chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck while I motioned for Luna to continue. "Well Steel, I just wanted to ask you how you knew how to sing in another language."

"Well, it was awhile ago and one of my friends told me that it would be impossible to learn how to sing two different songs in two different languages in a week. So we made a bet and a week later I was two hundred dollars richer which, if my calculations are correct, and they probably aren't, is about seventy-five bits."

"So Steel, since this is a party I'm only going to ask you a few questions." Said Twilight, "What languages do you know?"

"Other than English, or whatever you call this language, I know Korean, Spanish, and German." She was about to ask another question when I cut her off. "Let me guess you want me to say a few things in each language?" She nodded, "And by the way Steel, we call this language Equestrian." This caused me to laugh a little and got me weird looks form everypony. "I'm sorry it's just something from my planet was called the same thing... and it's ironic since your ponies." I mumbled the last part, "Anyway… Buenos dias, me llamo es Acero. I just said, 'Good day my name is Steel' in Spanish. I really don't think I need to say anything else in Korean to prove I can speak it." They all nodded in agreement. "Wenn dies eine Partei warum gibt es kein Kuchen? I just said 'If this is a party, why is there no cake?' in German." I noticed that they we all shocked that I yelled and Fluttershy had hid behind my couch. *sigh* I walked over to her to try and alleviate her fears. "I'm sorry Fluttershy, I didn't mean to scare you, German just happens to be a really…loud language." After seeing the smile on my face, she relaxed slightly and came out. "Was it really necessary for you to yell, Steel?" asked Luna. "Well… yes. You practically need to yell in order for anypony who speaks German to understand what you're saying."

"Where did you learn how to speak three languages?" I looked over at Twilight, "I learned German and Spanish in high school and I learned Korean because of that bet. You know your reactions before remind me of something somepony once told me, 'Life is short so tell someone you love them today, but yell it to them in German because life is also loud and confusing.'" After I said this, everypony was deep in thought thinking about what I said… well almost everypony. "Um, does anypony know what happened to Pinkie?"

Before any of them could say anything, I saw a pink hoof grab my shoulder and turn me around. Pinkie was standing behind me and behind her were some presents, a cake, and other desserts. "I'm here. We were going to wait until later to bring out the cake and your presents, but you said, 'Wenn dies eine Partei warum gibt es kein Kuchen,' so I immediately went and got them from the kitchen."

"Thanks Pinkie I… wait, now that I think about it, you weren't there when I told everypony else what I said. How did you know I was talking about cake?" She put a hoof on my shoulder and shook her head. "Steel, it wasn't that hard, especially since the author used Google translate since he doesn't actually know how to speak German. Now, who wants cake?" As Pinkie started cutting the cake, I started at her trying to figure out what she was talking about, until Luna put a hoof on my shoulder. "Steel, I may not know Pinkie that well but I know sometimes there are things she does that can't be explained or understood and its better to ignore it or laugh at it and move on." I shrugged and followed her to get some cake. After eating some cake and other pastries everypony decided it was time for me to open my presents. Twilight hoofed me a gift, "When did you girls have time to get my gifts?"

"Princess Luna sent us a letter saying your birthday was soon but didn't tell us the exact date, most likely because you wanted to tell us about your birthday and everything else yourself." I nodded in agreement, "Anyway, open your presents." Twilight got me a book on magic spells, useful. Rarity made me a suit with a tie to match my mane and a gray lapel with my cutie mark on it. Applejack gave me a dozen or so bottles of cider and some other apple based foods. Pinkie gave me another cake, big surprise there. Fluttershy gave me a book on gardening, another good thing since the garden in my backyard needs to be fixed. Rainbow gave me some training gear including a treadmill, apparently they all came to a unanimous decision that my daily run through the Everfree Forest is too dangerous for me to continue. Vinyl got me a customized acoustic guitar and told me she could have my other guitars sent to a friend of hers to get them personalized, if I wanted to. Derpy and her daughter gave me some muffins and a hoofmade drawing of me, most likely made by Dinky. "Steel," said Celestia, "Your gift can't be wrapped. Since you seem too constantly get hurt, next time you're in Canterlot, come to the castle. I'll have the blacksmith make you a set of amour."

"Thanks, I do seem to get hurt a lot. I've been here for what three weeks and I've ended up needing medical attention twice." She started laughing while Luna hoofed me her gift. "I hope you like it. I've also informed the guards that you are allowed to enter the castle when ever you want." I smiled and opened her gift. It was a picture of us when she came with me on my morning run and three empty picture frames, one for each of the photos I have and an extra I guess. "Thanks, but how did you get this I don't remember you having a camera that day?"

"I made it using a spell, but I'd rather not bore you with the technicalities." I smiled and laughed, "Sometimes I like the technicalities… this isn't one of those times. Besides I probably wouldn't understand most of it, I do only have a basic understanding of magic." I put the picture in one of the frames, put the one of my squad in another, and levitated all three of them onto the table. As I looked back to everypony, because I need constant eye contact with what I'm levitating or I'll drop it, I saw Luna set up a camera and I realized what the other picture frame was for. "Steel, I'm having a concert in a week so as soon as tickets are made I'm going to send you two," said Octavia. "I also wanted to know if I could use songs from your world for it."

"Sure, if you think you can learn the songs by then and if you want I can recommend some songs." She nodded, "I would recommend Fire and Fury, The Fleets Arrive, Twilight Princess Symphonic Movement, To Galaxy, Deference for Darkness and Ballad of the Goddess." We talked while Luna struggled to set up the camera and, at one point, I could keep myself from laughing at her. She sent me a look of annoyance and frustration, "It might be easier if you set up all three legs of the tripod at once." My suggestion caused her to facehoof since every time she set up the last leg one of the other legs would collapse causing the tripod to tilt. After she had finally set up the tripod we all gathered for a group picture. After we took the picture Celestia used her magic to make a copy for everypony, I put mine in the empty picture frame. Everypony said goodbye and went home except for the princesses, who asked if they could stay at my house, and as I was saying goodbye to them all, Pinkie somehow managed to clean up everything from the party. I followed Luna's advice and just ignored how Pinkie broke pretty much every rule of physics I could think of. After some arguing, I convinced the princesses to take the beds while I slept on the couch. I fell asleep on the couch thinking how this was the best birthday I've had in a long time.

* * *

"Contact left!" Before I could even figure out what was happening an RPG hit the front of the humvee. As I crawled out of the burning wreak that was once a humvee, I saw Psycho and the rest of my squad in cover near an ally trying to suppress the guys with RPG's. After I made it to their position, I asked Psycho for a status report. "Ninety percent of the men have been killed or wounded, all the humvees are totaled, and our air support has been chased off. In other words, we're fucked, sir."

"I know this isn't the time but, what have I told you about calling me sir?" He started laughing in the middle of the firefight, "You know I'm just busting your balls, Wolf. Fuck, that son of a bitch nearly took my head off… we need to get out of here, now!"

"Hang on… Ed, Ray, clear the ally. Go, we'll follow you in sixty seconds." Ed and Ray took off down the ally while me, Psycho, and Kingsley held off they enemy. After sixty seconds, we went after Ed and Ray. When we regrouped we proceeded down another street which seemed abandoned. "Something's not right, it's too quiet."

"I agree we were just neck deep in hostile, where are th-" CRACK

"Sniper!" "Shit, Psycho's down." "I didn't see the shot, where is he?"

I dragged Psycho to cover while everyone else searched for the sniper. "Psycho, Psycho can you hear me? Stay with me… command this is Easy company third squad, we need support and med-evac, multiple wounded and KIA. Command do you read?"

"Es-… can't re-… ference." I tried boosting the signal to reach command. "Guys, I can't reach command there's too much interference. Our best bet to get through to them is to get to that church's bell tower, unfortunately that's there the sniper most likely is." They all nodded in agreement, "Ray, Ed, grab Psycho, Kingsley get the rear, I'll take point." We started moving toward the church, it seamed too easy but with a wounded man I didn't care. I prepared to breach the door with Kingsley while Ed and Ray took Psycho behind some rubble near the door. As soon as Kingsley's foot made contact with the door, it exploded. I was thrown to the floor and lost my grip on my weapon, Kingsley's foot was shredded but attached and the wounds were healable. Ray, Ed, and Psycho were fine… for the moment. Ed and Ray ran toward us just as the men hiding in the adjacent buildings opened fire. They were dead before they hit the ground. I watched helplessly as some of them came over to us, on moved over to Psycho and removed his sidearm, I closed my eyes before the shot was fired. Two grabbed Kingsley and dragged him over to a truck that pulled up. The final two towered over me as I lost consciousness.

* * *

I woke up panting on the floor of a room. There was barely any light in the room, but I saw two figures in front of me. Panicking, I knocked one of them off their feet and put the other in a choke hold. The one I knocked down was starting to get back up while the one I had in a choke hold continued to struggle, then the lights came on and my mind went blank.

* * *

POV change: Luna

Tia turned on the lights and I could feel Steel's grip loosen. He let go of me and I fell to the ground. Coughing I turned around to look at him, his face was a combination of shock, shame, sadness, and fear. But he wasn't afraid of us it was more like he was afraid of something in his nightmare.

"Luna, Celestia I'm sorry, I had a nightmare and then I woke up and I really couldn't see anything, I panicked. I'm sorry and ready for any punishment you have." I looked at Tia and she seamed confused as why he thought he was going to be punished too. I walked up to him and the look of shame on his face deepened. I gave him a hug. "It's ok, Steel. You're not going to be punished. You just woke up from a nightmare and panicked. Besides, we probably should have turned on the lights, it's just as much our fault as it is yours." He stepped away from me with a confused look on his face.

"I'm not going to be punished, but why? I could have killed you. I knocked your sister to the ground. That's two counts of assaulting royalty, there has to be laws against that."

"It doesn't matter. I don't blame you and I doubt Tia does either." I looked over to her and she nodded in agreement. "Do you want to talk about your nightmare, it helps… sometimes."

"It wasn't a nightmare, it was part of my past. I'll spare you the details since they'd just give you nightmares, too. Let's just say that because of me a friend I knew since I was five was killed along with two other soldiers and another soldier went missing. A few weeks later, I asked to be removed from my position as squad leader, I also swore never to lead others into combat again. It was all my fault, if I had just stopped and looked around they might still be alive."

"Steel, did you know what was going to happen?" He shook his head, "Then how is it your fault? Nopony can predict the future." He sighed and moved over to the window and looked at the night sky. "Yeah, but it was my job to keep them safe. My job to make sure they made it home safely to see their families. My job to make the decisions, and my decisions got them killed." I sat next to him and saw that he was trying not to cry so I gave him another hug. We sat next to each other for awhile looking at the stars. "Steel, we should probably get some rest." I kissed him on the cheek and moved over to the door to the guest room, I noticed Tia was not in the room anymore, she must have left to give us some privacy. He went back to the couch with a look that I could only describe as the look somepony gets when they have conflicting emotions/ideas. I went inside and found my sister waiting for me.

"We need to talk," she said. I sat down next to her, "As princess of the night, not only are you responsible for raising the moon, but you're also responsible for watching over everypony's dreams."

"Yes Tia, I know this… why?" She started to rub the back of her neck nervously. "You should have helped Steel with his nightmare. I'm not saying you're doing a bad job but…" My jaw dropped in shock, "Tia how dare you doubt my abilities! For your information I tried to help him before I woke you, but this was more of a memory than a nightmare and we both know my ability with memory spells is… lacking... There was something different about this memory though. The last 'nightmare' he had I was able to enter, it was difficult but I was able to get in. This one I couldn't even get a glimpse of what was happening." She looked embarrassed, from doubting my abilities, and was thinking about what I said. Her combined thinking look and look of embarrassment made her look so funny I couldn't keep myself from laughing. Her embarrassment deepened as she started to leave the room. "I'm worried about him Tia." She moved back next to me as I kept talking. "This is the second time this has happened. Who knows how many others he's had since he came here, not to mention how many he had before he came here. I want to help him but I can't unless I know what is causing them and I doubt he is willing to talk about it. I don't know what to do…"

"Luna, if Steel wants our help he will ask for it, but I agree with you. We need to help him somehow." We sat there next to each other for a few minutes trying to think of ways to help Steel. "Well Luna, its clear we won't think of something tonight. I'm going to bed and I suggest you do the same." After she left, I sat in my bed trying to think of ways to help Steel until I fell asleep.

**Authors Note:** Well Steel had a great birthday party, the princesses are spending the night at his house, he almost killed Luna, we learned more about his time in the military and Pinkie put a few cracks in the fourth wall. It seems he will never have a dull day again. Luna's 'job' is in the show but her inability to enter memories is my own idea. Here's to hoping you guys review more and Pinkie doesn't break the fourth wall since it's expensive to replace. Also, Steel has had more nightmares than the two I wrote, it's not necessary to write them but if you guys really want me to I will.

Songs:

Twilight Princess Symphonic Movement and Ballad of the Goddess from Skyward Sword are from the Legend of Zelda 25th anniversary album

Fire and Fury is from the Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty soundtrack

The Fleets Arrive is from the Mass Effect 3 soundtrack

To Galaxy is from the Halo 4 soundtrack

Deference for Darkness is from the Halo 3 ODST soundtrack


	14. Canterlot Problems

Chapter 14: Canterlot Problems

**In between Canterlot and Ponyville  
****Local Time: 1300  
****One month since arrival**

Nothing much happened over the next week except that every time I went to talk to Cadence she was either not around or said to come back later. Anyway, being true to her word, Octavia and the rest of the orchestra learned some of the songs on my iPod in seven days. She also sent me two tickets to the concert and one train ticket from Ponyville to Canterlot and back. Only one train ticket, weird right? I still had another ten minutes until the train reached the station so I went over my to-do list. "First, go the castle and get my amour, then talk to Cadence, go see Luna and ask her to come with me to the concert, attend said concert, go home, and if possible find out why I keep talking to myself." After departing from the train I walked to the castle. When I arrived at the gate I walked past the two guards on duty, they didn't say anything to me, but I could feel their eyes following me. After walking around the castle for about an hour, I concluded I was lost. I asked one of the guards where Princess Celestia was, and he told me she was in a meeting. She could not to be disturbed, but the guard escorted me to the room she was in. I waited outside for half an hour before she came out.

"Oh, hello Steel. I didn't expect to see you here." I gave her a slight bow, since, even though we're friends, she is still a princess. "Well, Octavia's having her concert today so I figured I'd stop her and get that amour you gave to me." She started leading me to the blacksmith so I could be fitted. "So how was your meeting?"

"Meeting what meeting?... Oh that meeting." She motioned for me to get closer. "Between you and me I have that meeting once a week and it's not really a meeting," She whispered to me, "It's just some time I put aside so I can relax. Believe it or not, being a princess is extremely boring." I nodded in understanding just as we arrived at our destination. "I believe you. I was friends with the leader of my country. We knew each other since we were kids, he never had any problem telling me about the boredom that is politics." This caused her and the blacksmith, who we walked up next to, to laugh. When she settled down she introduced me to the blacksmith and left to do some royal duties.

"So the princess told me to give you whatever type of amour you wanted. So what will it be, Light, Heavy or some custom version?" Perfect just what I wanted to hear, "I'll be taking a custom design, I already have it crudely drawn out." I pulled out the designs and my forest-camo poncho. Judging by the look of intrigue on his face while reading my designs he was looking forward to making it. "Interesting designs, armor plating attached to the inside of the poncho, very interesting. It will take most of the day to complete come back around say… nine o'clock. By the way, where did you come up with this idea?"

"I was part of a foreign military before I came to Equestira. Armor like this was used for cover missions and for guarding high priority individuals." He wasn't really listening to me and lost interest after 'foreign military'. He levitated measuring tape over to me while his assistant went and gathered the metals needed. He measured every part of my body, legs torso, neck… well almost every part of my body. "Alright I just need you to remover that poncho so I can measure your wings." Fuck, "Wings? Uh, what wings?"

"Don't play dumb with me. Princess Celestia already informed me that you were an alicorn. I believe I'm the only guard that knows and the princess told me not to say anything to anypony else. Now unless you want somepony else to find out about this, you'll let me measure you before my assistant comes back with the metal." I quickly removed my poncho and he measured my wings. I had just finished putting my poncho back on when the blacksmiths assistant came back. When they started working on the armor plates, I left to find Princess Cadence. After walking around for a half an hour I had been at three dead ends, the guards' barracks, and back to the blacksmith before I asked one of the guards to point me in the right direction. I walked through the many twists and turns of the castle, got lost some more times, asked a few more guards for directions, and after I got lost, I finally found her.

"Steel, it's good to see you. I'm sorry we didn't get any time to talk while I was in Ponyville, but I have some time now if you want to talk." I smiled and she led me over to a table that had a pot of tea. She poured two cups of tea and offered me one. "I'm going to guess you want to talk about what I mentioned at the party last week." I nodded, "I've seen the way you look at my aunt. You like her and I thought I'd help you win over her heart." Granted when she said this I started chocking on my tea. "Wh-what are you talking about?" My attempt at feigning ignorance only made her laugh. "Oh Steel, I know you like her. Love is my special talent so it's hard to keep things like this a secret from me. Now what are you going to do?"

"Nothing, I mean, it could never work." My answer seemed to surprise her, "What do you mean? Love can always work." I stood up and walked over to a window, "No, it could never work. Besides the fact that she's royalty and I'm not, there are still other reasons." She motioned for me to continue, I sighed. "She deserves to be with a pony, a normal pony. I'm not a normal pony. Hell, I'm not even a real pony. I have problems, scars that can't be healed. She deserves somepony who can go a week without having nightmares, somepony who can always be there for her, somepony unlike me. I've done many terrible things, things that would scare even the bravest ponies, things that made me a monster. I don't deserve somepony like her."

She had a look of horror on her face. "Steel, how can you say that about yourself? You are a kind pony, since you've been here you have only done nice things, helped others, and you saved Luna's life, twice. What other proof do you need to prove that you are a good pony who deserves to be happy?" She walked over to me and gave me a hug. "Steel, I've seen the way Luna looks at you, she likes you. She won't be happy dating another pony, she doesn't care that you're not royalty, or about your past. She likes you for what you've done since you have been here. You two have the makings of a romantic relationship, all you have to do to make it a reality is to try." I just continued to look out the window unsure of how to respond. "Steel, all I'm asking is for you to think about it." She left leaving me looking out the window thinking about what she said. Eventually, I left to find and ask her about going to the concert with me but I couldn't get what she said out of my head. Because I was so lost in my thoughts I accidentally walked into somepony. I fell on my ass and vision got blurry for a second. When it cleared, I saw two guards glaring at me and Luna on the ground rubbing her head. "Luna, oh I'm sorry! I was thinking about something, are you ok?" I went to help her to her hooves and the guards took a step toward me, but she waved them off.

"I'm fine Steel. What were you thinking about?" Shit, I can't tell her about the conversation I had with Cadence. "Oh um… I was thinking about a few things. One of them was actually places you should be." After I said that I could feel myself start to blush. "And why were you thinking of places I might be?" Damn, this is harder than I thought, "Well…um as you know, Octavia gave me two tickets to her concert and um… I was wondering if you maybe… wanted to go with…me?" She chuckled at how embarrassed I must have looked. "Sure. When is it?"

"In an hour." She shook her head in disbelief, "You should have asked me earlier." I rubbed the back of my neck and looked at the floor in embarrassment. "You're lucky I don't have anything planed. Lead the way." I lead her to the concert hall. The ponies in line moved out of the way when they saw her despite her many attempts to tell them she didn't mind waiting in line. We showed our tickets to the usher and she led us to our seats. Octavia really went all out for me, our seats were in the first row right in the center and I mean dead center, I counted the seats on both sides. On one of the seats was a note.

_Steel and guest,_

_The orchestra is having a party after the concert and you are invited. Meet me at the rear entrance of the theater after the concert and I'll take you there._

_Octavia_

While we waited for the concert to start me and Luna talked about some things, nothing too important, but it was interesting enough because before I knew it, the concert was about to start.

* * *

**Two hours later…**

The concert went better than I expected. They did remarkably well considering they only had seven days to learn the songs. They only missed a few notes, but if I hadn't listened to each of these songs a hundred times, I probably wouldn't have noticed. When it was over, everypony clapped out of respect and as we walked out of the theater, I overheard many ponies talking about the performance. The reactions varied, some thought it sounded too much like ponies would play at clubs, others thought it was exciting and an entirely new sound they wouldn't mind hearing again. Overall the Canterlot ponies enjoyed it. When Octavia came out, she was speaking with the last pony I ever expected to be at an orchestral concert, Vinyl Scratch. "Vinyl, what are you doing here?"

"Hey Steel, Princess Luna. Tavi had another ticket to the concert so she asked me if I wanted to go." I chuckled, "You two should consider yourselves lucky. If I never came here, you two might never have become friends." They nodded and as we walked to where the party was, we talked about how things were. We didn't talk about anything of real importance, just whatever happened to come up. The only thing we talked about that really interested me was the talent contest Vinyl's club was having in a few days, she suggested I do it. She also recommended that Luna do it so she could visit everypony and practice her guitar skills. We agreed and she offered to do it with us, who knew she could play the drums? I guess you learn something new every day.

When we got to the party, I knew I would be bored out of my mind by the end of it. It was one of those fancy party somepony would throw to impress somepony else, aka the types of parties I try to avoid. As soon as somepony noticed Luna, everypony bowed and went to talk to her. After that, a few ponies continued to talk to Luna while the others went back to their original conversations. Octavia introduced us to her friends in the orchestra and after that I moved over to the food and made that my spot for the party. I chatted with a few ponies who wanted to thank me for giving the music, Luna was surrounded by the biggest ass kissers of the party, and Octavia and Vinyl spent the entire time with each other. Perhaps it was my boredom or my maybe my training, but I noticed that the table the ice sculpture was on (yeah it's one of those parties) wasn't flat, but whoever decided to put it on the second floor next to the banister should be fired. At first I didn't think much of it, but as I was talking to a pony named Fancypants, I heard some sort of creaking sound, he did too. We looked around for the source and I saw the table break. My training kicked in and I calculated that it would land on one of the only ponies at the party I actually knew, Luna. I ran towards her, since the room was too small for me to fly in. As I pushed her out of the way, I heard a ripping sound and felt the sculpture land on my hind legs. When I landed, I heard a collective gasp from everypony in the room. I assumed it was because it crushed my legs or because I saved the princess. When I looked back, I realized that wasn't why they were whispering. The banister had broken when the sculpture hit it and impaled the front of my poncho and exposed my wings. Shit. I heard them whispering to each other, the last time I was in a situation like this…

* * *

POV change: Luna

While everypony stared at Steel, I saw him tense up and get a look in his eyes. To eveypony else he look normal, but I could see the distant look in his eyes, he wasn't there. He was taken somewhere else by his mind and stares weren't helping him. I looked over to Vinyl and Octavia who had moved next to me. "I need to get him out of here, you two need to calm everypony down. And try to keep them from telling anypony else." I walked over to Steel and teleported us back to the castle. We teleported into the throne room and startled my sister. When she saw Steel's state, she trotted over to us, "What happened?"

"We went to a party after the concert. There was a problem with one of the tables and an ice sculpture almost fell on me and Steel pushed me out of the way. But his poncho got caught and came off. Everypony saw that he was an alicorn and he froze up. Octavia and Vinyl are still there trying to maintain control over the situation, but I would recommend sending somepony to help them." She gestured to a guard who went outside. She moved Steel's head so she could look into his eyes, "He seems to be in shock. I don't think it was caused by this, though. I might be able to bring him out of it, stand back." I moved away and she cast a spell a few seconds later Steel gasped for air looking around the room nervously. "Steel, are you ok? What happened?"

"I'm… fine. I just had a flashback, it's nothing." As I helped him to his hooves, I looked at my sister and could tell she also knew he was lying. "Steel it's ok, what was the flashback?" He walked over to a window and the entire time he looked at the ground and tried not to make eye contact with anypony. I walked up next to him and turned his head making him look at me, "Steel… tells us." It was like I hit a switch, tears immediately started to form in his eyes.

"I was back at one of the bases I was stationed at. It was right after that time I was saved by my friends, it was also the day after one of my friends died. After I gave my report to the general the rumors spread like wild fire. Everywhere I went, everywhere I turned everypony would stare at me and talk behind my back because of what I did." I looked at my sister and, like me, she didn't want to know the rest, but we had to know to help Steel. "What did you do?" That was it, he broke down and cried, "I killed Kingsley. We were captured together and they made me kill him. We went through basic training together…we did cross country together in high school. I remember our coach used to call him Kingston Alouitious the third," A bit of a smirk appeared on his face. 'It was ridiculous…King always used said that it was because he was black. We all laughed because it was true…I remember all the good times we had." I hugged him as he continued to cry. He cried until he had no more tears. Then he looked out the window remembering his friend. By now, it was far into the night and even if he didn't show it he must have been tired, "Steel, I think it's time you go home and rest."

"You're probably right." And for the first time in two hours, he got up. I walked him to the chariot we prepared for him and just before he got in it he turned to me. "If we're going to take part in this talent show, we need to practice. Would you be able to come over around, say eight?" I nodded and he smiled. I waved as his chariot left but, I couldn't shake the feeling that his smile was forced. As I walked back into the castle, I had an idea so I ran to catch up with my sister.

* * *

POV change: Steel

As soon as Luna was out of view I let my smile drop, I didn't want Luna worrying about me. I was still a little shaken by what happened today but I had my way of getting over it. Soon the chariot landed in front of my house I thanked the stallions pulling it and walked inside, I immediately went to my music room. It's not really a music room since the only things in there were my guitars, a speaker, and a chair. I had a song I always played when I was feeling depressed, I don't know why but it has always made me feel better.

(This Broken Soul by Rebecca Kneubuhl)

_O holy land, come ancient spirits,_

_Take up my hand and guide me._

_Pull me to shore, rivers are rising,_

_Look in this heart and find me._

_I've lost my way, your voice is silent,_

_I need you here to remind me._

_Show me now, how to find my home,_

_All I am surrender._

_Let the water flow right thru this broken soul._

_I'm by your side, ashes still burning,_

_I proved my worth, so tell me why_

_I've lost my way, your voice is silent._

_I need you here to remind me._

_Show me now, how to find my home,_

_All I am surrender._

_Tell me that you can forgive._

_Bring me peace, that I may live._

_Show me now, how to find my home,_

_All I am surrender._

_Oh sweet rest, oh sweet rest,_

_Find me at my home._

_Stay with me forever._

_Let the water flow right thru this broken soul._

"That was a beautiful song." I jumped when I heard that voice. Unfortunately, I also flapped my wings which drove my horn into the ceiling. As I struggled, I could here somepony laughing. When I finally got my horn out of the ceiling, I saw Luna rolling around on the floor laughing. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." After she stopped, I asked her a question, "What are you doing here Luna?"

"Well, I had a feeling that the smile you gave me when you left the castle was forced. So I thought I come over here in case you needed somepony to talk to. By the way, you left this at the castle." She hoofed me my now armored cloak. And I thought of something 'She's ignoring her royal duties to helping me with my problems, granted I'm not going to talk with her about them, but damn.' "Thanks, I didn't think you cared about me this much."

She blushed at my comment, "You're my friend and friends help each other." I smiled and lead her over to the living room and offered her some tea. We talked for awhile, I did my best to keep the conversation away from my break down today. After we ran out of things I wanted to talk about, Luna really wanted to talk about today, and I thought it was best if we went, or at least I went to bed. I said goodnight to Luna and went to my room, climbed into bed, and promptly feel asleep.

**Authors note:** Definitely not my best chapter, but it did what I needed it to do. The armor I tried, keyword being tried, to describe is the closest thing ponies can make to Kevlar. Kingston Alouitious the third is a reference to ItsKindsleyBitch on YouTube. For anyone who is interested in listening to the song This Broken Soul it is **not** on iTunes.


	15. The Talent Show

**Note: **This chapter will strongly focused on music. AlsoI recently held a .50 caliber bullet and realized my assumption on how large it was is wrong. Because of this I have changed the bullets in Steel's cutie mark from .50 caliber rounds to 7.62x51 NATO rounds.

Chapter 15: The Talent Show

**Steel's house, Ponyville  
****Local time: 0945  
****One month, one day since arrival**

The sunlight coming thru the window woke me up and after what happened yesterday I was not happy being woken up before noon. I waved my hoof around in the air in a vain attempt to remove the offending light. After giving up trying to go back to sleep, I got out of bed and shuffled my way to the kitchen. Once I made a cup of coffee and had a few sips, I noticed a note on the table.

_Steel,_

_Had to go back to Canterlot, I'll be back later to practice for the talent contest._

_Luna_

With Luna gone, I didn't have to worry about her trying to get me to talk about what happened yesterday. After I finished my cup of coffee, I got my saddlebag and poncho and went out to get everything I would need for today's practice, mostly paper, quills, and ink. As I walked down the street I saw that eveypony was looking at me as I passed by. There were only two reasons for this, one: I had something on myself, two: The rumors about me being an alicorn, which are probably already spreading across Equestria, have reached Ponyville. I hope it's not the second option, but after yesterday, it's only a matter of time until everypony in town knows and I'll have to make some sort of announcement. If there are rumors about me going around town, nopony had the courage to ask me about them. After getting all my supplies and a few awkward conversations with the ponies working at the stores, it was around twelve thirty and I decided to get lunch at Sugarcube Corner. When I walked in, I could feel everypony's eyes following me as I walk to Vinyl who was sitting alone in one of the booths, "Can I sit here?"

"Sure," I sat down across from her. "I take it you've noticed the stares..." I nodded after glaring at the ponies at the table next to us who were staring. "Yeah and I assume there are some rumors going around town, too. But before we start talking about this, can you come over to my place later so we can practice for the talent show, we do only have three days."

"Ok, I'll be over around six. As for the rumors… everypony in town has heard at least one version. All of them include you being an alicorn, but vary on how you became one. In some, you're the long lost brother of the princesses, others a science experiment, there's even one where you an alien from another dimension."

"Let me guess, you started that one." She snickered at my discomfort, because in my opinion, that version is way too close to the truth. Scratch that, it is the truth. Luckily it's too farfetched for anypony to believe except for those who know the truth. "Well, I knew everypony would find out eventually, it was only a matter of time. I guess I'll send Princess Celestia a letter about what to do, situations like this need to be handled delicately." After lunch and some small talk with Vinyl, I went over to the library. When I walked in I saw half of the books on the floor while Twilight and Spike rearranged them, "Um, what's going on?"

"Oh, hey Steel. It's re-shelving day." My confused face said more than my mouth could produce. "Every so often, I rearrange all the books in the library." I sighed, this kind of stuff didn't surprise me. She's so obsessed about books and organization, it's scary. "Ok, well I need to send the Princess Celestia a letter."

"Actually, I already sent her one about the rumors, here's her response."

_Twilight, either give this letter to Steel or tell him yourself._

_Talk to the mayor and set up town meeting for tomorrow around noon, either Luna or myself will be there to help explain the situation. When Luna is over to practice for the talent show she was telling me about you can make a back story for yourself. I don't think it's a good idea to tell everypony where you actually came from, it might cause a panic._

_Princess Celestia_

I said goodbye to Twilight and Spike and walked across town to the mayor's office. I had to wait for awhile since the mayor had other things to attend to. After about half an hour of waiting, I was finally ushered into her office. When I walked in she was filling out paper work, "Good afternoon Mayor Mare." She looked up from the papers, "Ah, good afternoon Steel. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I need to set up a town meeting for noon tomorrow. I need to address the rumors that have been going around town; I'm assuming you've heard some of them?" She nodded, "I have, but I've learned not to believe them until I have sufficient evidence to back them up, I'll set it up." I turned and started to walk out, "Thank you mayor, I'll see you tomorrow." By now it was about two thirty so I headed back to my house. While I was waiting for Luna and Vinyl to arrive I practiced my guitar. Looking out the window I played some songs including What About Now by Daughtry, Bottoms Up by Nickelback, and the guitar solo in Na Na Na by My Chemical Romance (2:13-2:39). As I finished up my practice session, I decided to sing and warm up my vocal cords with the last song.

(Trying Not to Love you by Nickelback)

_You call to me, and I fall at your feet  
__How could anyone ask for more?  
__And our time apart, like knives in my heart  
__How could anyone ask for more?_

_But if there's a pill to help me forget,  
__God knows I haven't found it yet  
__But I'm dying to, God I'm trying to_

'_Cause trying not to love you, only goes so far  
__And trying not to need you, is tearing me apart  
__Can't see the silver lining, from down here on the floor  
__And I just keep on trying, but I don't know what for  
_'_Cause trying not to love you  
__Only makes me love you more  
__Only makes me love you more_

_And this kind of pain, only time takes away  
__That's why it's harder to let you go  
__And nothing I can do, without thinking of you  
__That's why it's harder to let you go_

_But if there's a pill to help me forget,  
__God knows I haven't found it yet  
__But I'm dying to, God I'm trying to_

'_Cause trying not to love you, only goes so far  
__And trying not to need you, is tearing me apart  
__Can't see the silver lining, from down here on the floor  
__And I just keep on trying, but I don't know what for  
_'_Cause trying not to love you  
__Only makes me love you more_

_So I sit here divided, just talking to myself  
__Was it something I did?  
__Was there somebody else?  
__When a voice from behind me, that was fighting back tears  
__Sat down right here beside me, whispered right in my ear  
__Said, I've been dying to tell you_

_That trying not to love you, only went so far  
__Trying not to need you, was tearing me apart  
__Now I see the silver lining, from what we're fighting for  
__We just keep on trying, we could be much more  
_'_Cause trying not to love you  
__Oh, yeah, trying not to love you  
__Only makes me love you more  
__Only makes me love you more_

As the final notes from my guitar faded I could hear somepony or someponies, I couldn't tell, crying behind me. Turning around, I saw Luna and Cadence in the doorway, Luna had tears in her eyes and Cadence was crying. "Steel, that was one of the saddest and most beautiful songs I've ever heard." said Cadence, who had stopped crying, "Why would anypony not try to find the mare, or stallion, of their dreams? Why would they try and fight their feelings, he clearly loves her." I just shrugged, "I can think of a few reasons, but it's just a song, for example listen to this."

(Thnks Fr Th Mmrs by Fall Out Boy)

_I'm gonna make it bend and break  
__Say a prayer, but let the good times roll  
__In case God doesn't show_

_And I want these words to make things right  
__But it's the wrongs that make the words come to life  
_"_Who does he think he is?"  
__If that's the worst you've got,  
__better put your fingers back to the keys_

_One night and one more time  
__Thanks for the memories  
__Even though they weren't so great  
__He tastes like you only sweeter_

_One night yeah, and one more time  
__Thanks for the memories  
__Thanks for the memories  
__See he tastes like you only sweeter_

_I'm looking forward to the future  
__But my eyesight is going bad  
__And this crystal ball_

_It's always cloudy except for  
__When you look into the past  
__One night stand_

_One night and one more time  
__Thanks for the memories  
__Even though they weren't so great  
__He tastes like you only sweeter_

_One night yeah, and one more time  
__Thanks for the memories  
__Thanks for the memories  
__See he tastes like you only sweeter_

_I only think in the form of crunching numbers  
__In hotel rooms collecting page six lovers  
__Get me out of my mind  
__Gets you out of those clothes  
__I'm a liner away from  
__Getting you into the mood_

_One night and one more time  
__Thanks for the memories  
__Even though they weren't so great  
__He tastes like you only sweeter_

_One night yeah, and one more time  
__Thanks for the memories  
__Thanks for the memories  
__See he tastes like you only sweeter_

_One night and one more time  
__Thanks for the memories  
__Even though they weren't so great  
__He tastes like you only sweeter_

_One night yeah, and one more time  
__Thanks for the memories  
__Thanks for the memories  
__See he tastes like you only sweeter_

"See, it's a great song, but I bet neither of you understood half of the lyrics. Ok Luna, as soon as Vinyl gets here you two can go pick out the song we're going to play. And Cadence you're here because…?"

"Well, I wanted to see what the music from your home was like." I nodded just as Vinyl walked in. After tell her what I just told Luna, they went over to my iPod and began looking thru the approximately four hundred songs I had on there. It took a good four hours for them to go thru my songs, while they were going thru them I overheard them talking about what song we should play. These included Drive By by Train, Drops of Jupiter by Train, Hall of Fame by The Script, Don't Ever Let It End by Nickelback, If It's Love by Train, Have A Nice Day by Bon Jovi, The Power Of Love by Huey Lewis and the News, and What About Now by Daughtry. Eventually they pick their top three songs and asked me which one was best. "Ok, let's see what you picked."

_Bruises by Train  
__Lullaby by Nickelback  
__Into the Night by Santana_

"Luna, Lullaby is a good song but not one that I would recommend for your first time on stage, Into the Night is a good song but, Vinyl, there isn't much of a drum part. As for Bruises, it's a duet so one of you will have to sing with me. I'll give you a few minutes to talk with each other and pick a song." While they talked, I went into the kitchen and got some water for everypony. When I walked back into the living room I saw Luna looking at the floor, slightly blushing, while she rubbed one hoof with the other. Cadence and Vinyl were looking at her clearly waiting for an answer to a question. Eventually she nodded, still blushing, and the three of them looked over to me. Vinyl walked up to me with a confident smile on her face, "We've decided to play Bruises… and Luna's going to sing with you."

I slightly chocked on the water I was drinking since I knew it would never work between me and Luna, but still the feelings were there. "Great, let's get started. Cadence, you can stay if you want." She politely declined, saying she had to go back to Canterlot. On her way out, I thought I saw her wink at Luna, but decided I was imagining things since it was about 10:00pm and I was kind of tired. We practiced for a good two hours before calling it a day. We decided to meet back here tomorrow at three, and we made a lot of progress in that time. Vinyl was a quick learner and had about a quarter of the song damn near perfect when we finished. Luna was unsure about herself when we started, but when she was more confident she was amazing. She had one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard, although I sometimes had to remind her to project her voice. She hadn't learned as much of the song as Vinyl did, but I didn't hold it against her since she had to learn the words and the notes where as Vinyl only had to learn the notes. Before Luna left, I gave her the back story I had created for myself just as Celestia asked. I went to bed thinking about the talent show, we did better than I had expected in our first day. We were at least a contender and if the other practices go as well as they did today, we would definitely be in the top three.

* * *

**Outside Town Hall, Ponyville  
****Local time: 1155  
****One month, two days since arrival**

It's strange, I'm fine running through a field while being shot at, but I'm nervous about making a speech. I spent the entire morning going over my back story, making sure there was no way anypony could tell I was lying. Well, except for my friends, who already knew the truth. I waited behind the stage for the one of the princesses to show up. As each second went by, I tried to calm myself with little success. Mayor Mare began to address the crowed, explaining why this meeting was called on such short notice. "… and now to tell us the truth and put the rumors to rest, I give you Flamingsteel." Truth… yeah, right. I nervously walked onto the stage and approached the podium.

"Uh, hello everypony. I know about the rumors going around that I'm an alicorn and I'm here to tell you the truth. The truth is… damn, this is hard, the truth is…" With everypony staring at me I couldn't say it. I tried moving my mouth, but I couldn't form any words. Suddenly, I felt my poncho ripped from my back and everypony gasped. Turning around, and giving everypony in the crowd a good look at my wings, I saw Celestia and Luna standing there, the latter had a mischievous smile on her face and was magically holding my poncho. "Was that really necessary?" I demanded. Luna giggled.

"Well, you were doing such a splendid job of telling everypony, I just gave you a little help." Shaking my head I turned back toward the crowd and muttered, "Just like a Band-Aid, just rip it off in one go." Clearing my throat I readdressed the crowd, "So yeah, I'm an alicorn. Any questions?" Instantly everypony started talking, asking the three of us various questions, while ponies involved with newspapers moved to the front of the crowd. I tried answering a question just to be cut off by another one, this cycle kept on repeating. After awhile I just tried to get everypony to stop talking. When it was clear I couldn't get the crowd under control, the princesses tried to help me. Every attempt we made ended in failure until Luna couldn't take it any more, "Quiet!" The Royal Canterlot Voice not only silenced everypony, but a few of them even backed way slightly. "Excellent, now everypony with a question raise your hoof and Steel will answer you questions _one _at a time." I scanned the crowd and picked a random pony.

"Ledger Post from Equestria Daily, were you born an alicorn? And if so, where were you born? The birth of an alicorn is big news and as far as I know you were never in any newspapers." Back story time, "Yes, I was born an alicorn. I was born on a small island off the coast; there was one village, a forest, and an active volcano on the island. Next question, you, the red mare in the fifth row."

"How far away is this island and is it part of equestrian?" Celestia stepped forward, "No, the island is not part of Equestria and we're not entirely sure where it was located." This caused many ponies to whisper to each other, "It was, princess." I cleared my throat drawing everyponies attention back to me. "Yes, was. The day I left my island was the same day the volcano erupted, luckily we had ships for traveling to the desert island near by so most ponies that couldn't fly got away safely. Unfortunately as I flew away, I passed out on a cloud due to smoke inhalation and when I woke up neither island was in sight. I just was a filly at the time, so I was too nervous to leave the cloud so for three days I drifted on that cloud until a member of the Manehattan weather team found me. For the next seven years, she took care of me until her death at which time I decided it was time for me to explore the world, this eventually lead to my arrival in Ponyville." I saw many ponies with tears in their eyes, not the desired effect of the story, but it should keep them from asking too many questions. After a few more questions, the crowd dispersed and the princesses, my friends, and myself walked back to my house. For awhile we talked about my story, they all agreed that it was way too sad and when they asked how I was able to make such a convincing story I replied with, "A creative writing class I took in college." Once everypony else left Luna, Vinyl, and I practiced for the talent show for another two hours, with a few breaks of course, then called it a night.

* * *

**The Prancing Pony, Ponyville  
****Local time: 1900  
****One month, three days since arrival**

Nothing of real importance happened this morning. Luna and Vinyl came over around eight for one last practice session, which was way too early if you ask me. After that, we went our separate ways doing what ever until we meet up for the talent show. In order to keep the judges decisions as unbiased as possible, we decided it would be best if Luna wore a hooded cloak and used a different name. We were waiting back stage for our turn to perform; it always sucks to be last. "And now the last act. It's my pleasure to give you Flamingsteel, Vinyl Scratch and Titan." Luna wasn't sure about her temporary name, but was ok with it once I told her it was the name of a moon in my solar system. I looked over to Vinyl then Luna who both nodded, we were ready.

(Song: _Steel_, **Luna**, _**Steel**__**Luna**_**)**

_Haven't seen you since high school  
__Good to see you're still beautiful  
__Gravity hasn't started to pull  
__Quite yet I bet your rich as hell_

**One that's five, and one that's three  
****Been two years since he left me  
****Good to know that you got free  
****That town I know was keeping you down on your knees**

_These bruises make for better conversation  
__Loses the vibe that separates  
__**It's good to let you in again  
**__**You're not alone in how you've been  
**__**Everybody loses, we all got bruises  
**__We all got bruises_

_Have you seen him?  
_**Not in years  
****How 'bout her?  
**_No but I hear  
__She's in Queens with the man of her dreams  
_**Funny, back then she said that about you  
****Que sera, you'll never guess who I saw  
****Remember Johnny B?  
**_Remember him? We're best friends practically  
__Let's do this soon again… _**ten years is that what it's been  
**_**Can't believe how time flies by  
**__Leaving you makes me wanna cry_

_**These bruises  
**__**Make for better conversation  
**__**Loses the vibe that separates  
**__**It's good to let you in again  
**__**You're not alone and how you've been  
**__**Everybody loses  
**__**We all got bruises  
**__We all got bruises_

_I would love to fix it all for you  
_**I would love to fix you too  
**_**Please don't fix a thing, whatever you do**_

_These bruises  
__Make for better conversation  
__Loses the vibe that separates  
__It's good to know you have a friend  
__To remember now and then  
__Everybody loses_

_**These bruises  
**__**Make for better conversation  
**__**Loses the vibe that separates  
**__**It's good to let you in again  
**__**You're not alone and how you've been  
**__Everybody loses_

**Everybody loses  
**_**Everybody loses  
**__**We all got bruises  
**__**We all got bruises  
**__We all got bruises_

After the movie faded away, everypony applauded and the judges talked to each other while the other contestants retuned to the stage for the award ceremony. The judges brought the trophy to the stage. "We would like to thank everypony that participated, you all did a great job. However, only one pony or group can win and the winner is… Flamingsteel, Vinyl Scratch, and Titan!" Everypony applauded again while the other contestants left the stage and we were given the trophy.

"I would like to thank the judges for choosing us. I would also like to thank my band mates Vinyl Scratch and Princess Luna." At the same time I said her real name Luna pulled back her hood revealing her face and the crowd gasped. "Now would anypony like an encore?" The applause my question was met with was all I needed; I turned to Luna and Vinyl. "Anything specific you want me to play?" The quickly discussed it, "Play Into the Night." As I played the first notes, I heard Luna and Vinyl play with me. I was surprised, since neither of them knew the song, but my curiosity got the better of me so I let them play with me

(Into the Night by Santana)

_Like a gift from the heavens, its was easy to tell  
__It was love from above that could save me from hell.  
__She had fire in her soul it was easy to see,  
__How the devil himself could be pulled out of me.  
__There were drums in the air as she started to dance,  
__Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands,  
__And we sang…_

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
__And the voices rang like the angels sang,  
__We're singing…  
__Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
__And we dance on into the night  
__Ay oh ay oh,  
__Ay oh ay oh,  
__And we danced on into the night_

_Like a piece of the puzzle that falls into place,  
__You could tell how we felt by the look on our faces.  
__She was spinning in circles with the moon in her eyes,  
__No room left to move in between you and I.  
__We forgot where we were and lost track of time,  
__And we sang to the wind as we danced through the night,  
__And we sang…_

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
__And the voices rang like angels sing,  
__We're singing.  
__Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
__And we danced on into the night  
__Ay oh ay oh  
__Ay oh ay oh  
__And we danced on into the night  
__Ay oh ay oh  
__Ay oh ay oh  
__And we danced on into the night_

_Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell,  
__It was love from above that could save me from hell.  
__She had fire in her soul it was easy to see,  
__How the devil himself could be pulled out of me.  
__There were drums in the air as she started to dance,  
__Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands,  
__And we sang…_

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
__And the voices rang like the angels sing  
__We're singing…  
__Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
__And we danced on into the night  
__Ay oh ay oh  
__Ay oh ay oh  
__And we danced on into the night  
__Ay oh ay oh  
__Ay oh ay oh  
__And we danced on into the night_

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
__Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
__Singing ay oh ay oh ay oh ay  
__And we danced on into the night…_

After we finished the three of us stood next to the trophy for pictures. The local news ponies in attendance, who were still a little shocked that Luna was here and had preformed twice, took our pictures for the paper. As our picture was being taken, we discussed how they knew what to play, what to do with the trophy and the prize money, "How did you know what to play?" Vinyl shrugged and Luna said, "I don't know, I just acted on instinct." I sighed, "Maybe it was my spell, if it was... well I guess we haven't completely figured it out yet. So, any ideas on what to do with the trophy and money?"

"Well, with my DJ job, I don't need the money and I doubt Luna does either, so the money is yours." I looked over to Luna who nodded in agreement. "Ok, so the money is mine, what about the trophy?" Luna walked over to the trophy and examined it from all sides, "I have an idea." She closed her eyes in concentration and her horn glowed while the trophy was enveloped in the same glow. Three lines appeared on the trophy at one hundred and twenty degree angles from each other and the trophy split into three pieces. "There now we each have an equal piece of it." I looked at Vinyl who only shrugged, grabbed her piece and was about to walk off the stage. "Vinyl wait, I have something for both of you." Luna made her saddlebag appear next to her and pulled out several letters. She gave two of them to Vinyl and seven of them to me. The letters she gave me had my name on one, Twilights on another, in fact there was one with each of the girls names on it. I opened the one with my name on it.

_Dear Flamingsteel,_

_By royal decree, you are here by invited to the birthday party of Princess Luna which is to be held in four days time at Canterlot castle. Arrive at eight o'clock, bring your invitation for admittance._

Just as I finished reading the letter, the clock stuck midnight and the letter glowed. The word four was replaced with the word three. Magic, I doubt it will ever cease to surprise me. "These are you invitations, Steel I trust you can get those to the girls." I nodded, "Good and Vinyl since you're going to Canterlot tomorrow to spend the day with Octavia can you give that to her." She nodded as well, "Excellent, now unfortunately I must return to Canterlot." After she left, Vinyl grabbed her piece of the trophy and left, leaving me on the stage, still shocked at what happened. "Did I just get invited to Luna's birthday party?"

**Authors Note: **Sorry for the long delay, but I have the next four chapters written down so I've been typing them, I'm almost done so they should be posted in two or three weeks. Also, completely unrelated to the story, I have started playing the My Little Pony game for iPhone, iPod, excreta… and there is a friends feature in the game, so I'm looking for anyone who wants to be my friend in the game. Not sure what it does though. If you are interested, send me a PM and I'll try to figure out how adding a friend works.


	16. Introducing Purple Heart

I would like to apologize for how long it took for me to get this chapter out to you guys. I had my Eagle Scout project which took up a good chunk of my time and now that its spring my editor has started play lacrosse again so she doesn't have the time to edit my chapters Also expect less time in between each update but more grammatical errors.

**Important pre-chapter notes:**

**1)** As I said last chapter the bullets in Steel's cutie mark have been **changed **from **.50 calib**er rounds to **7.62x51 NATO** rounds.

**2) **I feel like I have to talk about alicorn Twilight because of the mixed reactions to it. Making her an alicorn was a **good idea** just done at the **wrong time**, the best time to make her an alicorn would have been the season finally of the last season. Now that she's a princess she can't spend all day with her friends she has royal duties now and that changes part of the show, all her adventures happened while goofing off with her friends.

**3) **I'm saying this again since almost none of you read the last chapter's authors note. I've been playing the My Little pony mobile game and I'm looking for friends, my gameloft ID is Lord_Curly.

**4) **The other day I was looking at the list of My Little Pony stories and came across the story My Little Pony: A Marine's Life by Godwrites. I read a few chapters and made a startling discovery, so I'm putting a poll up I want to know if you guys think his story is a knockoff of mine or not.

Chapter 16: Introducing Purple Heart

**Prancing Pony Club, Ponyville  
****Local time: 0005  
****One month, four days since arrival  
**

Once I got over the initial shock of being invited to Luna's birthday party, I grabbed my piece of the trophy and went to find the girls. After ten minutes of moving thru the crowd of ponies that wanted to buy me a drink or congratulate me, I found Rainbow Dash. "Dash, I'm glad I found you, where's everypony else?" The crowd was starting to dissipate, but with so many ponies talking and the music blaring, I had to shout for her to hear me.

"They're at the library. We decided to go back there since it's hard to talk here. I stayed here to let you know where we went." I nodded and we started walking to the library. "So I didn't get a chance to talk to you the other day, now that eveypony knows you're an alicorn, when are you going to let me teach you how to use those?" She gestured to my wings, by now we were out in the street so I opened them and flexed them slightly. "I don't have anything planed for the rest of the day, are you sure you're ready to be a teacher?" She started laughing. For the rest of the trip, I couldn't stop thinking of Luna's birthday party. I know we're practically best friends, but three days isn't enough time to get her a good present. "Hey Steel, are you ok?"

"Huh... I'm fine." She gave me a look, "I'll tell you when we get to the library." After a few more minutes of walking, we got to the library. When I walked in I saw the girls and Cadence talking, she must have come back to see the show. When they saw me they started applauding, "Thanks now I have something for each of you." I levitated the other six letters out of my saddlebag and gave each of them their letter. At first they were confused as to why I was giving them something with Luna's seal on it, "Open it." As they read the invitations everyponies eyes except for Cadence, who probably already knew about the party, widened. Halfway thru the invitation Rarity fainted and when the others finished they were left speechless. After Rarity recovered she was the first to speak, "Did we all just get invited to Princess Luna's birthday party?" They all nodded slowly and I smiled and she fainted again. Pinkie started bouncing around the room, "Oh, this is going to be so much fun. There will be cake and music and we'll get to spend time with the Princesses. I wonder if they'll let me help set up the party!" While they started talking about how fun the party will be I was trying not to laugh… I failed. After I calmed down everypony, I noticed that Cadence was staring at me. "What?"

"Why were you laughing?" asked Dash. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cadence trying not to laugh. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it; you girls were just too funny." My answer just irritated her so I elaborated. "It's clear none of you have been to the birthday party of a government official. They're not fun, it's probably been one of the most boring things it has ever been my displeasure of attending. It's more of a formality, it's expected that other government officials, or in your case nobles, attend. If I had compare it to something…it's like the Grand Galloping Gala." This caused the girls to groan, "Don't worry, if she's like any of the important people I knew, she's probably going to have an after party just for her friends, which includes us." Their moods improved, but they weren't too excited to go. Suddenly a letter with Celestia's seal appeared in front of me, it read:

_Steel,_

_Octavia and I have decided to get Luna a personalized bass and electric guitar._

_Vinyl_

I looked back at the girls, "Anyway, we have three days to get her gifts. Vinyl and Octavia are getting her personalized guitars so we need to decide what to get her."

"Well darling, I could have a dress made for her by then." They all talked about what they were going to get her and I tried to think of something to get her. I was having trouble thinking of a gift for her, I didn't want to get her something she could by herself, something meaningful to show how close we are and how much I value her friendship. "Hey Twilight, didn't Luna used to live in a castle near here?" She nodded, "Do you have a map that shows where it is?" She had a confused look on her face, "No, what's left of the castle is located in the Everfree Forest and since it's too dangerous for anypony to go in there, no maps exist, why?"

"I want to get Luna something meaningful not something from a store. Something had to have survived in that castle, like a statue or something. Personally, I think something from her past would be a great gift." They all agreed it was a good idea and Rarity shared a look with Cadence, but I was too tired to think about it. However, they didn't think it was a good idea for me to go in there alone. "Girls, I'll be fine. I was able to fight off assassins and a manticore. I think I can handle a walk through the forest." They tried to talk me out of going, but I wasn't going to give in. "Dash, later can you give me a quick flying lesson just enough to get me off the ground and moving forward." She nodded, "Twilight can you write down some directions for me?'

"Yes, but I still think it's a bad idea for you to go in there alone." I chuckled as I walked back to my house.

* * *

**Approximately 11 hours later…**

So much for Twilights directions, I thought. Not even an hour into the forest, I was ambushed by a pack of timber wolves. It turned out to be a good idea to wear my armored poncho and thankfully Dash gave me a crash course in flying. I got away, but now I'm way off course and if that wasn't enough I either broke or sprained my wing on the landing. Using the little sunlight that came thru the forest canopy I headed in the direction I thought the castle was in.

* * *

**9 hours latter…**

"This is perfect, just fucking perfect!" I've been in the forest for about ten and a half hours now and I still haven't reached the castle. "I cross the river and not even five minutes later I run into a ravine. Is there anything else that could possibly keep me from reaching the castle?" I shouldn't have said anything because at that exact moment it started to rain. "Fuck, the universe clearly has it out for me. Because of those damn timber wolves, I can't fly and now with this rain I can't safely climb down and back up the other side." I face hoofed, "This forest is driving me crazy, I'm talking to myself… again. Fuck it. I'll camp here for the night." After eating some of the apples and one of the sandwiches I brought I climbed a nearby tree, tied myself to it, and fell asleep.

* * *

**Castle ruins, Everfree Forest  
****Local time: 1300  
****One month, five days since arrival**

"Five hours, five fucking hours." After waking up latter than usual due to the lack of light I started walking around the perimeter of the ravine looking for a way across. "How come it took me five hours to find a way across? Not only have I wasted most of the day but I'm still talking to myself." After crossing the rickety and dangerously old rope bridge, I finally made it to the castle. It was worse than I expected. The ceiling was nonexistent, the walls looked like Swiss cheese and the whole thing looked like it could collapse at any moment. Needless to say, I started having doubts. "I can't believe this! I fought in a war and I'm afraid to go into some ruins. If my drill sergeant ever heard about this, he would beat me so hard that my skin would stay black." Taking a deep breath I started to calm myself, "Ok, go in, find something that survived the last thousand years, and get out. How long can it take?" With myself mentally prepared, I entered the ruins.

After a few hours, I began mentally checking off ever where I've already been. "Throne room: empty, Garden: buried by rubble, Courtyard: now a sinkhole, Dinning hall: empty, Room that my have belonged to Celestia: totally destroyed by something." After searching the remaining rooms and finding nothing I ended up in what, judging by the crescent moon on what's left of the door and above the door way, was Luna's room. Surprisingly, the room was also empty. "This is ridiculous, an entire castle and not one thing still intact!" Frustrated beyond belief, I slammed one of my hooves into the floor causing it to break apart revealing a hidden staircase. Unfortunately, the staircase was directly below me and I fell down it until I crashed through what was left of a door into a large room. I groaned, "Fucking hate this castle." When the world stopped spinning, I looked around. Judging by the few bits and jewels scattered around the room I was most likely in the castles vault. I picked up the few treasures around me, five bits, two diamonds, a sapphire, and put them in my saddlebag and walked over to the only other interesting thing in the room, an old statue of Luna. Her body was made of black marble and adorned in silver armor. "That'll work." As I checked the statue for any structural weaknesses, I began removing the blue plants that coated it. Once I had removed all of them, I checked over the statue one more time and tripped over what appeared to be a stone chest partially buried next to the statue. "What's this? Hum… appears airtight; if anything else survived it would be in here."

After digging it out and many failed attempts to open it, including one where I used my horn as a crowbar, I gave up. "Screw it, I'll bring it with me. Celestia or Luna should be able to open it." Placing my hooves on the statue and chest, I teleported to my backyard. After covering them with a tarp to cover them from any weather I wasn't aware of, I placed my saddlebags on the table in my room and climbed into bed.

* * *

**Castle ruins, Everfree Forest  
****Moments after Steel left**

"Master, are you sure it was wise to let him leave, what if he saw one of us? What if he returns for something?" Menacing laughter reverberated throughout the castle. "There is no need to worry and as much as I hate to admit it, we aren't ready. The parts of the castle we need haven't been fully restored. Keeping him would only bring the princesses here before we are ready. No, it was best if we let him go but we will see him again soon… very soon."

* * *

**Steel's home, Ponyville  
****Local time: 0800  
****One month, six days since arrival**

When I woke up something felt different, but I couldn't place my hoof on it. Still half asleep, I shuffled over to my bathroom and got into the shower. "Damn, that trip into the forest took more out of me than I anticipated," I thought. I don't know how long I spent in the shower, but the hot water on my tense muscles felt good. After getting out, I grabbed a towel and started to dry myself. I started by drying my face, then I moved the towel to dry my mane… wait isn't there supposed to be a horn on my head. Eyes closed, I slowly moved a hoof to where my horn should be hopping I was wrong, I wasn't. I screamed but that sounded wrong too; it was high pitched and sounded more like a mare screaming. Armed with the knowledge that my horn was gone and my voice had changed, I had a slight panic attack. Running over to the mirror I tried to get a good look at myself and see what else was wrong, but the mirror was foggy. Using my hoof, I quickly wiped of the condensation on the mirror, I was so freaked out that I didn't notice that the hoof wiping the mirror was a light purple not gunmetal gray. After seeing my reflection I almost passed out, my mind could not comprehend what my eyes were seeing. My entire appearance had change. My coat was now a light purple color, my mane gold, my horn was gone, my wings were gone too, my cutie mark was now the Purple Heart medal and I was significantly shorter. Add to that the change in my voice.

This realization caused me to stare at the mirror for a few minutes while saying, "This can't be happening," repeatedly and slapping my self in the face a few times. After about twenty minutes of me blankly staring into the mirror, since slapping myself didn't work, I felt the need to relieve myself. As I sat on the toilet, I saw some thing that made me curl up into a ball, stare at my groin, and scream so loud the princesses probably heard me in Canterlot. I was now a mare, the body part that defines a stallion was gone, replaced. My mind couldn't take it any more after everything that happened in the last few minutes I finally cracked. I stood up, walked over to one of the room's corners, curled into a ball, rocked back and forth, and silently cried. I still had to relieve myself, but I was in the middle of a mental breakdown so I ended up pissing myself. Eventually, I was able to calm myself enough to take another shower, clean the bathroom, crawl into bed and get a hold of myself, not necessarily in that order… I'm going to have to change my sheets. "Ok, the key is not to panic," I looked at my bed, "again. I'll just go see Twilight, she'll know what to do. But first I need a new name if I use my real name nopony will ever let me forget this… and I'm talking to myself again, focus priorities. Let's see new name, new name… might as well use Purple Heart it is my temporary cutie mark. I mean it's not like I'm going to be stuck like this for too long… right?" I quickly walked to the library doing my best to avoid eveypony. Once I got there, I started shouting her name, there was no response, and I was about to start looking for her when I remembered something that made me face hoof.

* * *

**(**Flashback**)**

"Steel, are you sure it's ok that we go to Canterlot early?" The girls all looked at me while I tried to catch my breath after my flying lesson. I dismissively waved my hoof, "It's fine. Go enjoy yourselves, have a good time, see the sights. I'll meet you at Luna's party." A few minutes later I waved at them as their train left the station.

* * *

"Shit, looks like I'm going to Canterlot like this. Uh, really wish I had a job right now." Since the money from the talent show is being sent to me in the form of a check I didn't have it yet. I had planed on teleporting to the castle but without a horn that is no longer an option, good thing AJ lent me a cart just incase I couldn't carry what I found. After putting everything in the cart I went over my list. "Statue: check, Chest: check, Suit in case they can fix this quickly: check, Hooked up to cart properly: check, looks like I'm good to go… great." After walking halfway thru town I realized something, this shit's heavy. I wasn't even out of town and I could already feel the first sings of fatigue, I guess my smaller stature isn't built for pulling heavy things. I still had to go thru approximately half the town, a two hour walk across flat plains, and a thirty minute walk up the mountain, plus however long it takes to walk thru Canterlot to the castle. Not to mention that with the added weight the trip is more like a seven hour journey. This is the worst day ever… of all time. "Looks like I'm going to be late to the party," I muttered.

"'scuse me ma'am, do ya need help?" Big Macintosh, great the last thing I need is other ponies. "No, I'm fine." I continued walking and he walked next to me. "Ah hope ah'm not outa line but ya clearly need help. An' from that look in yer eyes ah can tell yer as stubborn as mah sister."

"I'm not being stubborn. It's just that I have to bring this stuff to Canterlot and you probably have things you need to do around here." He shook his head, "It's no trubble ma'am, ah was actually goin' to Canterlot mahself." *sigh* I mumbled, "Fine," while unhooking myself from the cart. He hooked himself up to the car and we began walking to Canterlot. Along the way, he started asking about me, which was odd, usually he barely says two words to me. I created a back story to answer all his questions, it was pretty good, and he also told me about the Apple family. During the trip every time we passed another stallion, I could feel there eyes following me. A few times I thought I saw a mare do the same thing, but just ignored it and blamed it on paranoia. As we walked thru the gates of Canterlot I made a decision, if this ever happens again I'm not leaving my house, eventually one of my friends will come looking for me and they'll give me the cure, antidote, whatever… "So why are ya goin' to Canterlot?"

"An old friend of mine was invited to Princess Luna's birthday party. Unfortunately, he's having an emergency so he asked me to go for him. The cart has his gifts to the princess." He grunted as one of the wheels got stuck in a pothole, this gave me time to get a good look at the ponies of Canterlot. One word came to mind for them, all of them, snobs. "Well his gifts sure are heavy, what did he do make a statue of her? Who is he anyway?"

"Well, he kind of did… it is a statue. He just didn't make it. As for who he is, I think he's a friend of yours, Flamingsteel. You know him?" He finally got the wheel out and we continued walking. "Eeyup, ah know him. Wouldn't call him mah friend though, ah haven't spent enough time with him." A few minutes later we arrived at the castle and he started unhooking himself from the cart. "Hey, ah was thinkin', well more like wonderin' if ya wanted to have lunch with me tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, but my train for Manehattan leaves tonight," while he didn't say anything his ears drooped slightly, "but maybe next time I'm in Ponyville." I didn't want to lie to him, but over the past few hours we formed a bond and it kind of hurt seeing him depressed. He smiled and left, as I walked toward the gate I remembered the jewels and bits I picked up in the old castles vault. Fighting the urge to face hoof I walked up to the gate and was stopped by the guards on duty. "Halt! State your business."

"I'm here for Princess Luna's birthday party." I hoofed him the invitation. "Flamingsteel could not attend and asked me to go in his place." The other guard went to check the cart and the one I was talking to looked back at me. "Why isn't Flamingsteel attending?"

"That is a personal matter. I was instructed only to reveal to Princess Luna if she asked… why?" The guard looked behind me; the other guard most likely signaled that he deemed the gifts safe. "The princess told us to inform her when Flamingsteel arrived. If you'll follow me I'll escort you to the party."

"Hey! You escorted the last guest." The guards started arguing over who would escort me to the party. This lasted for about a minute until one of them pulled rank. As we walked away, I could feel the other guard watching us, more specifically me. After walking thru many of the similar looking hallways of the castle we finally arrived at the party. The guard led me through the crowd towards Luna. As we made our way to her, I could feel almost every stallion's eyes following me… again and most of the mares looking jealously at me, it freaked me out. I never liked being the center of attention, I was fine with the occasional stallion staring at me as Big Mac and I passed on the road, but this was a room full of ponies looking at me. The guard walked up next to Luna and whispered something in her ear. She and the girls walked over to me, "You are friends with Steel?" I nodded, "Yes, we met in Manehattan." She wasn't buying my story, which is a good thing since it is complete bullshit. "Why isn't he here?" I looked around at the ponies near us who had become very interested in our conversation. "No offense princess, but this is a conversation best held in private." I said gesturing to the ponies around us who quickly made it look like they were interested in anything else. Luna nodded and led our group to a side room and shut the door behind us. The walls briefly glowed indicating that a spell was cast on them; most likely it was a spell to keep ponies outside the room from hearing us. Next thing I know, I'm magically being slammed into a wall. "Who are you? We all know that Steel has never been to Manehattan! Where is he?!"

"I'm Steel," I mumbled. "What?" I said it again a little louder, but they still couldn't hear me. After a few more attempts, I took a deep breath and just shouted it, "I'm Steel!" They all gasped, Luna lost her magical grasp on me, and I fell to the floor and hung my head in shame. "Before you ask no, I don't know how this," I gestured to myself, "happened. All I know is that I woke up like this." I started to cry. They all tried to comfort me; Luna was the most worried about my condition. She pulled me into a hug and stroked my mane which calmed me down a little, "It's ok, Steel. We'll figure something out." I whipped the tears from my face and looked up at her, then to the rest of my friends. They all had caring smiles or sympathetic looks on their faces, "Unfortunately, it will have to wait until later. We must return to the party, appearances must be upheld." The girls were shocked by this news, but honestly I knew this would happen. "I understand, no rest for the weary, eh? I assumed this would happen, I was friends with the leader of my country and attended a few of these types of parties."

"You knew the leader of your country? That's awesome!" Dash said. She unlike everypony else, except Luna, had her mouth closed while theirs were hanging open. "Yes and I'd be glad to tell you about him another time. Right now, you girls have a party to attend… oh and close your mouths." They all closed their mouths; most of them blushing from embarrassment, and Dash flew up into my face. "What do you mean 'you girls'? You were invited to this party, too." They all looked at me waiting for an answer. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going back out there, not with all the looks I've been getting."

"Oh, you noticed that huh?" asked Luna. I nodded, "Well Steel, how should I put this… whatever happened to you, turned you into a very attractive mare." She said that last part in a slightly different tone, I just ignored it, not like it's important… right? "Almost every stallion in the room was watching you as you passed them… a few mares too. But please, try to enjoy yourself at the party… it would mean a lot to me." Granted she mumbled that last part and I didn't hear her "Fine, but if another stallion hits on me I'm leaving." This surprised her, "Another? How many stallions, as you said, 'hit' on you?" I paused and did a mental tally, I didn't really need to, but I just wanted to be sure. "Well, there were the two guards at the entrance, they didn't say anything to me but they did argue which one of them would escort me to the party, and then there was the stallion from Ponyville. Nopony else had the courage to come and talk to me, so three in total." They all stared at me, "What?" Dash face hoofed and the others shook their heads. "We want ta know who he was, sugercube." Great AJ you had to be the one to ask this question, let the awkwardness begin. "Um… well… it was…um… your brother." They all gasped and Pinkies jaw hit the floor, once again defying physics. "Mah brother?" I nodded, "How do ya know he was hitting on ya?"

"Well, the biggest indicator was that he had a full length conversation with me. He asked about my past, which I had to make up on the spot, and he shared some of your family's history. He also offered to pull my cart to Canterlot for me, looking back on it I don't think he actually had any other reason to come to Canterlot." I decided it was best not to tell them he asked me out. I chuckled, "Maybe he's the reason all those other stallions didn't try to talk to me; he towers over practically every other stallion. Or maybe they thought we were a couple." I shuddered at the thought. While I was thinking out loud, AJ shook her head and muttered something about having a talk with her brother. "Well we better get back to the party… oh, and if anypony asks my name is Purple Heart. I can't exactly use my real name." They all nodded in agreement and we went and rejoined the party. I stayed with at least one of my friends at all times trying, and failing, to ignore the stares I was receiving from practically every stallion… and a few mares. Eventually the party ended and everypony left leaving just me, my friends minus Vinyl and Octavia who went back to Octavia's house, Luna and Celestia. While me and Twilight tried to figure out what caused me to become a mare, Luna and the others explained the situation to Celestia. Twilight and I had no idea what caused it, but Celestia had a look that made me think she knew what caused it or at least where to start looking. She led us to another room which was filled with Luna's presents, "Ok Steel, which gift was yours?" I began searching the room, I thought my gifts would be easy to find considering the size of the statue. After about five minutes of searching, I found them. "Ok, these are my gifts." Luna walked over to them and proceeded to unwrap them, which in the case of the statue was just taking the tarp off. They all gasped when they saw the statue. "I cleaned the statue the best I could but it still needs some work. I found that chest next to the statue but despite my best efforts I couldn't get it open so I have no idea what's inside."

Celestia walked over to the chest and touched her horn to it causing it to open. We all stared at her in shock, "I made the chest and placed a spell on it so only I could open it." She turned and looked at Luna, "After your banishment, I hoped that one day you would return to normal. So I took your most prized possessions and put them in this chest. I always intended to give it to you, but after a thousand years I forgot where I put it. I must have put it in the old vault for safekeeping." Luna started going thru the contents of the chest taking out pictures, books, and a really expensive looking chess set. While Luna was doing that I noticed another one of those flowers on the statue. I removed it and tossed it in the trash, "Swish… what?" When I turned around I saw Twilight staring at me. "Steel when you found the statue were there more of those flowers on there?"

"Personally I think looks more like some type of fungus, but yes. The statue was covered in them… why?" She shook her head and led me to another part of the castle. Everypony else came with us, including Luna which surprised me, I was sure she was going to stay behind and reminisce about the past. As we were walking, Twilight explained what was going on. "The flowers that covered the statue were poison joke." I face hoofed, funny how you remember something after it would have been helpful. "We just need to get a copy of Supernaturals and then the ingredients for the cure." After an hour of waiting the cure was finally ready. I slowly entered the bathtub letting out a sigh of relief; the hot water was very relaxing and got rid of some of the pain I had acquired from the trip. In fact, the water was so relaxing that I almost forgot why I was there. Luckily, Luna poked me and brought me back to reality, "Sorry, I was walking all day and this feels so nice." I took a deep breath and put my head underwater. I was underwater waiting for some indication that the medicine was taking effect when multiple hooves grabbed me and pulled me out. Once I got the water out of my eyes, I saw that Luna had a worried expression on her face, "Steel, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Looking around I saw that everypony else also had a worried look on their faces and I got a pretty good idea why they were concerned. "Was I really down there that long?" They all nodded. Qucikly looking over my body, I saw that I was back to normal. "Strange, I didn't feel any indication that the cure worked." By this time it was around midnight so we all agreed that it was time to go to bed. The princesses led us through the many identical hallways that made up the maze that is Canterlot castle while we talked about random things. Of course, Dash had to ask what it was like to be a mare, but I ignored her question even though she asked it about a hundred times. This continued until we reached a fork in the hallway. "Due to the party many ponies and foreign diplomats are staying at the castle," said Celestia, "unfortunately we don't have enough rooms left for each of you. As long as it's ok with everypony, I've split you all into two different rooms." Nopony said anything so she continued. "Twilight, you, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity will be in one room. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy will be in the other." Everypony agreed on the sleeping arrangements until I realized I didn't have a room. I was about to say something, but Twilight beat me too it. "Wait… princess, Steel doesn't have a room."

Celestia looked over to Luna and narrowed her eyes, "Yes it appears so. Luna you said you were going to take care of his sleeping arrangements and I know there are no more available rooms in the castle. So, where is he staying?" We all looked at Luna whose face now looked like a cherry. "Well I was thinking that he could um… stay in…" None of us heard the last part she said. She attempted to say it a few more time before we finally heard her, "…in my room." Celestia looked at Luna while my jaw, along with the girls' jaws, dropped. If my mind was a computer, it would have displayed, "Warning, system crash. Attempting reboot."

"Luna, after you have escorted Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Steel to their rooms, I want you to meet me in my room. Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity follow me I'll escort you to your room."

"Wait before everypony leaves, I would like to thank you all for coming. We didn't celebrate the day of our birth a thousand years ago, I honestly didn't know what to expect. Being surrounded by my friends helped calm my nerves, thank you." They didn't celebrate birthdays a thousand years ago? I wanted to know why they started celebrating birthdays, but decided it was best if I didn't know. Any reason to start celebrating living another year cannot be good. Celestia and her group walked down the left path while our group went the other way. I just blindly followed Luna, my mind still thinking about my sleeping arrangement. "Steel…Steel are you alright?" Luna's voice brought my focus back to the present. "Huh…?" Looking around I noticed that I was in front of Luna's room and the others were gone. "Sorry I was, um… lost in thought." Luna put a hoof over her mouth, probably to keep herself from laughing at how embarrassed I was. We entered her room and I noticed the chest I found was already in her room and the chess set was set up on one of the tables. There was also no couch, "I guess I'm sleeping on the floor then."

"Actually you're going to be sleeping in my bed." I was about to say something when she raised a hoof. "I am the Princess of the Night, my duties keep me awake while most ponies sleep. You can have the bed. Now I must go see my sister, but I was wondering if you wanted to play a game of chess when I return."

"Sure Luna." She left and I looked around the room for something to do. I examined the chess set and besides the color every piece looked exactly the same. Eventually I decided to lay on the bed and wait.

* * *

POV change: Luna

I knocked on my sister's door knowing that she was not happy with Steel sleeping in my room. The door opened and I walked in. (I'm not putting in Celestia's long and tedious rant) It took her an hour to say what I could have said in one sentence, "I'm not comfortable with Steel sleeping in your room and I think it's a bad idea." When I returned to my room I saw Steel asleep on the bed, his head resting on his hooves and pointed in the general direction of the door. I smiled; he must have tried to stay awake, "Looks like our chess game will have to wait until tomorrow." Since Tia took over my duties for the night, because it was my birthday, I lifted Steel off the bed and moved him under the blankets. I the turned off the light and got into bed next to him.

**Authors Note: **Longest chapter yet, about six thousand words. For those of you who may think I changed Steel too much when he was infected by poison joke well, fuck you I'm the author. You're not.


	17. Listen to Your Heart

**Notice:** Looking for some one to make a cover for the story, PM me if interested

Chapter 17: Listen to Your Heart

**Canterlot Castle, Canterlot  
****Local time: 0645  
****One month, seven days since arrival**

I woke up after yet another nightmare, as I tried to calm myself by taking deep breaths I felt something wrap around me causing me to panic. "Its alright Steel, it was just a nightmare, you're fine." Luna, I looked over to her and saw her concerned face. I also remembered that I was in her bed, blushing from the implications somepony could think of, I got up and walked over to the window. I sat down in front of the window and opened it allowing the cool early morning air to enter the room. Luna also got up and sat next to me, "Steel, do you want to talk about it, it helps."

"No… I don't want to worry you with my problems." She must have noticed that I was still a little shaken from my nightmare because she pulled me into another hug. "Steel, I'm your friend you can talk to me about anything, a friend listens to another friends problems. Also I'm a princess of Equestria, it's my duty to keep everypony happy. So what was your nightmare about?" I knew she would try and get me to talk about it, so I just kept staring out the window. "Come on Steel, tell me." After my continued silence she nuzzled my neck causing me to blush slightly from the contact. Subsequently her mane tickled my nose and I could suppress a chuckle. She heard me and got a deviant smile on her face, "Luna, wait…" She magically held me in place and began rubbing her main around my nose, I couldn't keep myself from laughing, "I'll only stop if you tell me." I tried to escape but since she was more proficient with magic I couldn't break her hold on me. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you just stop." She stopped but held me in place so I couldn't leave without telling her.

"I was in a graveyard in front of the graves of everypony I got killed. Just looking at the graves brought back the memories, it was hard to just stand there. Then… then they rose from their graves. All of them, each and every one of them crawled out of the ground. They all looked the same as the day I got them killed. I started to run but before I ran I heard them utter one word, "Why?" They didn't have to say anything else. That one word was all I needed to hear to know that they blamed me for their deaths. To confirm what I already knew, it was all my fau-fault." I broke down and cried. Luna hugged me while I continued to cry and offered comforting words but I couldn't hear them. I don't know how long we stayed like that but when I stopped crying the sun was up. We stared out the window for a few more minutes until Luna spoke up. "Hey Steel, why don't we play a game of chess?" I absentmindedly nodded, still depressed about what I learned from my nightmare. As she set up the board I remembered that yesterday I thought all the pieces were the same, upon close inspection I noticed that, aside from one group being black and the other white, they were all the same. "Uh, Luna?"

"Touch one of your pieces." I did and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I watched as each piece took on its own form. The pawns became marines and the other pieces were more tools of war (Planes, ships, tanks, etc.). Luna's pawns became royal guards with other guard related items for the remaining pieces (Helmets, swords, castle towers, etc.), however the most surprising piece she had was the queen, it was Nightmare Moon. "Uh, Luna… any specific reason your queen is Nightmare Moon?" She lifted up the piece and examined it from all angels, "No… this peace has changed since the last time I used it." She looked at me and saw my confused expression and explained. "The pieces are enchanted to take the form of the player's homelands army. The queen is usually the strongest pony in the army." I looked at my queen, a nuclear missile, "Maybe not… my queen is one of the most dangerous weapons in my world. Perhaps the queen is the most dangerous thing the player knows of."

"This is too confusing Steel, lets just play." I nodded, "I'm warning you now, when I play I don't hold back." We played for awhile, Luna won most of the games but in my defense she had centuries of experience and I only had ten years. I had just lost again when somepony knocked on the door. I reset the board while Luna went to the door. She opened it revealing Celestia, Cadence, and the girls. "Are you alright sister?"

"I'm fine Tia… why?" I was confused as well until I looked at the clock, it was noon. I face hoofed and they all looked at me. I chuckled nervously as I walked over to them, "So, who wants lunch?" Luna was confused or shocked I couldn't tell. "Lunch? What are you-" She stopped talking when she looked at the clock. "Were we really in here all morning?" They all nodded, "Steel, how many games of chess did we play?" I shrugged, "I don't know, I stopped keeping track after you beat me five times in a row. So… lunch?" Celestia was about to say something when we heard a rumbling sound. As everypony looked for the source of the sound I saw Luna look at the ground in embarrassment. I started laughing when I realized that the sound came from her stomach. Everypony was confused about why I was laughing until my stomach cried out for food as well. Now it was Luna's turn to laugh, eventually everypony figured out what the noises were and started laughing too. As we walked to the dinning hall Cadence motioned for me to walk next to her, "Hello Steel its good to see you again." I nodded in agreement, "Have you thought about what we discussed last time you were here?"

"Yes and after thinking about it I made my decision. I don't think Luna would want to be with me, especially with all my problems… but, I'm willing to give it a shot." She smiled when I told her that, like she knew that would be my answer. "So when are you going to ask her out? And what changed your mind? Last time you were here you were against even thinking about it."

"Well, I remembered something I once read, 'How can you know what will happen if you never even try?' I still don't think it will work out but I might as well try." She shook her head and I thought I heard her mutter pessimist. "As for when I'm going to ask her out, I'm not sure. But it's defiantly going to be before I leave the castle and before I lose my nerves." She nodded in agreement. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dash glance back at the two of us. When I looked in her direction she looked away and tried to look inconspicuous, which means she just overheard our entire conversation… great. When we got to the dinning room the castles staff just finished setting up the table. While we waited for the chiefs to finish preparing lunch I started thinking about when I should ask Luna out. "Not during lunch, I don't want them all to know if it doesn't work out. Also want to avoid asking her when other ponies are around, too awkward." While I was thinking I didn't notice Dash trying to get my attention. She got annoyed that I was ignoring her, unintentionally of course but she didn't know that. She went outside and brought in a storm cloud and hit me with a lightning blot to get my attention. I must have jumped three feet in the air causing everypony else to start laughing. "Ha ha ha, very funny, I'm going to remember this Dash. What do you want?"

She walked over next to me and whispered, "So thinking about Luna huh?" She looked at me with a suggestive look. I blushed and my wings extended slightly, I couldn't tell if it was because of how embarrassed I was or because of the natural reaction wings have to 'those' thoughts. "That's none of your concern." She started laughing, "Knew it." The others laughed at my embarrassment even though they didn't know what caused me to blush. I was about to try and make Dash blush in retaliation but the chiefs came in with the food. After lunch it was time for us to return to Ponyville. As we walked to the carriage the princesses were providing Cadence nudged me and gestured to Luna. As everypony else boarded the carriage I walked over to Luna. "Hey Luna, can I talk to you for a second." I saw Celestia watching us, "In private." We walked away from everypony, as we were walking I could feel three sets of eyes following us. Looking back I saw Celestia and Cadence watching us and Dash quickly looking away from us. "So Steel, what did you want to talk about?" This is it, "Well I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime… just the two of us." She narrowed her eyes and had a playful smirk on her face, "Like a date?" If my face didn't look like a tomato before it does now. I tried to say something but my voice chose this moment to abandon me so I just nodded. "Sure," I must have visibly relaxed because she chuckled. "Well princess, how does Friday at eight sound?" She giggled when I called her princess and nodded. "Perfect and not to sound rude but could you come to my house. I know the stallion usually picks up the mare at her home but I really don't think we want any rumors about us being spread around the castle or Canterlot." She nodded again and we walked back to the others, smiling. I gave Luna a hug and she surprised me by kissing me on the cheek. As I boarded the carriage I saw Cadence give me a knowing wink.

For the first few minutes of the ride we all sat in silence with dash staring at me the entire time until she finally said something. "So… did you ask Luna out on a date yet?" The others gasped in shock and I think I saw the guards glance back at me. "Um… I… ah…" I could feel myself blush so I looked down at my hooves. "Hah you did and judging by the smile you had on your face she said yes." I wanted to say something but with them all watching me I panicked and absentmindedly nodded. They all gasped again and asked various different questions relating to my relationship with Luna or the date. They asked everything, where I was taking her, what I would wear, and if this would be our only date or would there be more. I couldn't even say tow words before I was cut off by another question. Eventually they calmed down and Rarity was the only pony still talking, if she keeps talking I'm just going to tune her out. "Darling, I simply must make you a smashing outfit. You need to dress your best for your date with _Princess _Luna, first impressions are everything." I sighed, "Rarity, Luna and I already know each other I don't think first impressions matter. Besides I'm not going to wear a suit." She tried to convince me to wear a suit by giving me that cute eye look. Good thing battle hardened soldiers are immune to it. "Nice try." She wasn't happy that I wouldn't wear a suit but she dropped the topic… for now." They started basking me more questions, this continued and continued… "Enough! If you're all so worried about me messing up on my date just help me set everything up!" They all agreed and I was left wishing I hadn't said that as we arrived at Ponyville, more specifically my house. "There goes any chance of me having my first date with Luna how I want it." I muttered as the girls disembarked the carriage. When I exited the carriage one of the guards motioned for me to come over to him, "I would recommend being on your best behavior during your date with Princess Luna. Princess Celestia is very protective of her sister and I'm not sure what would happen if you hurt Princess Luna in any way." After giving me that 'comforting' advice, he and his fellow guard began the trip back to Canterlot.

* * *

**Ponyville  
****Local time: 1200  
****One month, ten days since arrival**

Nothing really happened in the past three days. The girls all helped me prepare for my date tonight and I secretly bought the dyes for my revenge prank on Dash. During the party last night, which I asked Pinkie to through, I slipped a sedative into one of Dashes drinks. It knocked her out and the girls, who offered to help, and myself dyed her coat the colors of her mane and dyed her mane cyan. After we finished Pinkie hid the left over dye, Dash was still asleep on the floor. We waited for another ten minutes, at least. "I'm starting to think the sedative was too much." Twilight was about to say something when Dash started to move. "Uh… my head, what happened?" The sedative must have still been affecting her because she hadn't noticed the changes we made to her body… until she went into the bathroom of course. She screamed, flew down the stairs, and crashed into me. She looked at us with a panicked expression, "We have a major problem, I think somepony rubbed poison joke on me. My mane and tail they've… switched colors!"

"We… we can see that Dash." We were all failing miserably at keeping ourselves from laughing, Pinkie was the worst of us all. Dash continued her panicked rant about how she was going to find the pony who did this to her until we all fell to the ground laughing. "Why are you guys laughing, this is serious!" Still laughing Pinkie reached under the nearby table and pulled out the box containing the leftover dyes. When she hoofed over the box to Dash our laughter died down to the occasional giggle from Pinkie. "You did this?"

"Originally it was only going to be me with Pinkie helping by throwing the party, but after the others found out they wanted to help. Don't worry the dyes should wash off by tomorrow, Sunday at the latest." She groaned and left muttering something about getting back at me. I followed her for awhile, I noticed that she rushed thru her weather duties. After Dash fled to her house to avoid any further embarrassment I left to get the supplies for my date. Using the money I had 'earned' I got everything I needed and it didn't even put a dent in my funds. After dropping off the supplies at home I went to Rarity's boutique, she wanted to talk to me about something. "Hello Steel."

"Rarity, it's always nice to see you." She let me inside and I got a good look at the boutique, I think this is the first time I've actually been inside. "So what did you want to talk about?" She motioned for me to follow her, "Well I did say I would help you on your date with Princess Luna. I know the others said they would help too but I doubt they were much help. I would suggest ignoring any advice Dash or AJ gave you, I don't think they've had any experience with romance, same with Fluttershy. Twilight probably recommended a book, and Pinkie is… well Pinkie." Right on all accounts, except I avoided asking them for advice, "I know you wanted to plan out the night so I decided not to interfere with your plans. I still wanted to help so I took the liberty of making you a suit." She pulled on a rope opening the curtain she had led me in front of. Behind it was on a ponykin(?) was the suit. I know she put a lot of effort into it but being the pony I am it just looked like every other suit I've ever seen. For the next hour she went over the details she put into the suit. I tried to politely tell her that I didn't want to wear a suit but she wouldn't take no for an answer and eventually I gave in and said I'd wear it. After having me try it on and making sure it fit properly I said goodbye to Rarity and headed home for some relaxation before my date. As I sat in my house I looked at two of the jewels I had picked up during my trip into the Everfree Forest. After taking all the jewels I had to the town jeweler she told me that these two were extremely rare. She also put me in contact with a museum curator who is willing to offer me a large amount of bits for just the one that looked like copper mixed with quarts and a yellow sapphire. The other one I was more reluctant to sell, it looked like some pony had turned fire into a stone. Its probably selfish of me to keep such a rare stone to myself but it reminds me so much of my mane… okay, I'm selfish sue me, I can afford it. Looking at the clock I decided it was time to start getting everything ready and put on my suit.

While I prepared the dinner I planned the girls came over to make sure I had everything I needed, Rarity refused to leave until I put on my suit. She also 'convinced' me to let her style my mane and brush my coat. When she finished my coat looked like somepony buffed a piece of metal, my mane looked like how I used to style when attending fancy parties, and my tail just looked neat, nothing special. She also brought over some cologne for me, personally I think she used too much. Fluttershy was kind enough to pick me a bouquet of flowers and AJ gave me an apple family pie. Her pie recipe is the one thing in Equestria I would do anything to get but, she's made it pain fully clear the recipe is not for sale. After everything was ready and the girls left I still had half an hour until Luna was supposed to arrive. As it got closer to eight I started getting nervous so I put on some calming music. Once I was calm I turned off the music. Just as I sat down somepony knocked on the door and the nervous feeling I had returned. When I opened the door I saw Luna standing there. Her mane looked like the night sky, her coat was like polished ebony and for the first time I noticed how pretty her eyes were, considering she wasn't wearing any of her royal regalia which reflected light and was distracting. In other words she was, "Beautiful."

Thank you Steel, you look quite handsome yourself." I blushed when I realized I said that out loud. "So what did you have planed for our date?" Realizing she was still standing outside I moved out of the way so she could come in. "Well I planed on taking you out for a picnic under the stars. I also have secondary and tertiary plans if you don't like the picnic." She seamed a little surprised that I had three things planed. No, a picnic is fine but, wouldn't your suit get ruined?" I nodded while I tried to adjust the collar into a more comfortable position, "Yeah, Rarity 'convinced' me to wear it." Luna giggled at my discomfort, "She also had me wear this cologne and based on your reaction she used too much, just like I thought." Luna rubbed the back of her neck nervously while trying not to breathe through her nose. "Well I'm going to get out of this suit and try to think of a way to mask the smell of this cologne." A few minutes later I came back out into the living room without the suit and smelling like lemons instead of cologne, "Ready Luna?" She nodded. I grabbed the picnic basket and opened to door allowing her to leave first like a gentlecolt should. I led her over to one of the hills near Ponyville. It was perfect, there were no trees, shrubs, or bushes to block the view, no roots or rocks to make sitting/ lying down uncomfortable, and I cleared the sky of clouds. I had just finished setting everything up when I saw a lone cloud heading in our direction. After double checking that the cloud was indeed moving against the wind I decided to take action. "I'll be right back Luna, it seams that somepony's gotten too curious for their own good." She gave me a questioning look, "That slow moving cloud is moving against the wind, somepony is pushing it." I took off in the opposite direction of the cloud. Then I flew up higher than the cloud, turned around, flew towards it and hovered near it. The cloud was obviously hollow on the inside considering the view ports on the bottom and 'door' on the top. Looking inside I saw Dash and Fluttershy pushing it from the inside, how that works I'll never know. Also inside were the rest of our friends including Vinyl and Octavia who I thought were still in Canterlot. Using the impressive power of my wings I moved it, at least five times faster, back to Ponyville. By the time they realized they were going in the wrong direction I had positioned them over the library. When they finally decided to investigate I was already flying back to Luna, "Don't even think about trying to spy on us again."

When I got back Luna had an amused look on her face, "So are the 'spies' gone?" I chuckled, "Yeah, all eight of them." Seeing that she was confused I elaborated, "Our friends including Vinyl and Octavia, honestly I thought they were still in Canterlot." She chuckled and shook her head. We started to eat, I wasn't sure what I should eat considering all I ate since I came to Equestria was vegetables, fruits and baked goods, I never tried anything with flowers. In the end I took some salad, dandelion sandwiches, daisy sandwiches, hay fries, and of course AJ's pie. I was never good at small talk so we spent most of the meal in an uncomfortable silence. After we finished eating we saw the girls attempting to spy on us again using a green tarp to cover them. I was about to get rid of them when there was a flash and they were gone. I looked over to Luna and saw the glow from her horn diminish. We stared at each other and then we burst into laughter. When we finally finished to tension in the air was gone and we lay down next to each other and looked at the stars. She pointed out the constellations in the sky and I told her about the constellations from my world. I played her some songs on my guitar and she played me one from Equestria, it's nice to know that she learned something I didn't teach her. Eventually we ended up talking about the stars themselves and space travel. "So you've been able to send somepony into space?"

"Yes, unfortunately not everypony can go into space. It's expensive so only the rich or ponies funded by the government could afford it. Personally I don't see the big deal. I know the view is supposed to be beautiful and the stars look even better there but it just takes too long to get there and there's not a lot to do up there. Maybe I would like it more if I could afford it and it only took a few minutes to reach the moon or another planet. May be I would think differently if I actually went up there… and I just realized it must be incredibly for you to listen to me ramble on about this stuff." Luna giggled, "No its fine Steel. I agree with you the view is beautiful but there's not a lot to do up there." I've noticed that with all the time I've spent with Luna she's finally letting go of the past and look toward the future. "Steel…?"

"Yeah," Luna looked over at me, "I had a great time." I looked over to her and smiled, "That was the point." She laughed and I was only vaguely aware that we were getting closer to each other, I only really noticed when I felt her breath on my face. As we got closer my heart was fighting my mind. My heart wanted this but my mind told me it would never work. When our lips connected I made my decision, fuck my mind, I'm happy and she's happy. When she pulled away she saw my blank expression, frowned, and looked at the ground. I lifted her so she was looking at me, smiled, and kissed her. She was surprised but kissed me back. This kiss was more passionate than the last one because I had finally decided I wanted this. The kiss lasted until we had to breathe and when we pulled away we stared into each others eyes.

But I should have known this moment wouldn't last, suddenly there was a bright flash of light originating from my chest. When the light receded there was a silver piece of armor on my chest, a breastplate if my limited knowledge of medieval armor is correct. It appeared to be pure silver with what appears to be a yellow sapphire in the shape of a bullet in the center, "Shit…"

**Authors Note: **Well, there you go another chapter for you guys. ***IMPORTANT* **For those of you who may have figured out what happened at the end of the chapter **DO NOT **post it in the comments, give those who haven't figured it out yet the chance to do it on their own or wait for the next chapter, also I will explain why I put that in at the end of the next chapter.


	18. Sometimes the Brightest Lights…

I would like to apoligize in advance, my editor has been unavailable lately so this chapter and the last chapter haven't been edited yet

Chapter 18: Sometimes the Brightest Lights…

**Hill near Ponyville  
****Local time: 2300  
****One month, ten days since arrival**

Luna and I sat on the hill staring at the silver breastplate that appeared on my chest. I carefully raised my hoof and tapped on it hoping it didn't explode. I didn't have the best record with things on my chest that I didn't put there. After the shock wore off and I was certain it wasn't going to explode I slowly sat up and asked the question we were both thinking. "Uh, Luna… what is it?"

"I don't know Steel." We looked at each other then back at the armor. "I don't know what it is but maybe Tia knows." She got up and started to walk back toward Ponyville but I stayed where I was. When she realized I wasn't following her she walked back to me. "Aren't you coming?"

"No, no no no, I'm not moving. The last thing I need is for something to happen because I moved. You go to the library and have Spike send a letter to your sister or go get her yourself, I don't care. While you get her here I'm going to stay right here, and not move." She looked unsure, trying to decide if she should leave me alone. I smiled trying to get her to go and at the same time attempting to hide my fear. She still looked unsure about leaving me but she flew towards Ponyville anyway. As she flew away there was only one thought going thru my head, "Oh my god this is it. I'm going to die… again." As I waited for Luna to return I stared at the moon and attempted to keep my fear in check.

* * *

POV change: Luna

As I flew towards the Ponyville Library I kept thinking about what happened and how scared Steel seamed. "What's going on? One minute everything is fine, then we kissed and there was that bright flash. Now Steel has weird silver armor on him and he's afraid of it causing something bad to happen." Because of all these thoughts going thru my head I forgot I could have just teleported there. When I arrived at the library I was so focused on what happened and Steel's well being I forgot about the door and crashed thru a window. This caused Spike, who was in the room, to emit a girly scream and cause Twilight to come running into the room. I think she asked me what was going on but I was too focused on writing a letter to Tia. After I wrote it I hoofed it to Spike, "Send it to my sister." It looked like Twilight was going to say something when there was the flash of a teleportation spell. After the light died down I saw Tia standing there, "Luna, what happened?"

"I don't know, me and Steel were enjoying a picnic and then we… and a bright flash…" By now I was crying and Tia pulled me into a hug. After a few minutes she spoke up, "We need to go. I need to see what happened to Steel." As I left the library, thru the door this time, and flew to where I left Steel thought I heard Spike say some thing about cleaning but I was too worried about Steel to care. When I got back to Steel I saw Tia was already there. "Tia how did you… teleportation." I face hoofed when I realized I could have just teleported here like she did.

* * *

POV change: Steel

"Now that we're all here can somepony explain what's going on?" I'd rather not die because of this thing." Celestia walked over to me, I was about to tell her to stay back when she raised a hoof telling me to be quiet. As she looked over every part of the breastplate I stated to get worried that what ever it does would happen while Celestia is standing next to me. Suddenly she looked at me and smiled, "Steel you can get up, if I'm right you have nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?" She nodded, "Well could you two back up. I don't want to take any chances." The princesses moved back to a safe distance and I slowly stood up to make sure nothing would happen I walked in every direction, used magic, and flew around a little. Once I was sure nothing would happen I approached them, "Well since I'm not dead yet can you tell me what this is and what's going on." I looked at Celestia, she clearly she knew something Luna and I didn't.

"Maybe, come to the castle tomorrow, I need to do some research. And bring Twilight and her friends, if I'm right they should know about this too. Luna you can take Steel home now."

* * *

**Between Ponyville and Canterlot  
****Local time: 1400  
****One month, eleven days since arrival**

Just like Celestia asked I was on my way to the castle with Twilight and the others, Luna had left sometime last night. I put on my poncho in an attempt to hide the armor since I was afraid something would happen if I tried to take it off. The girls were talking to each other while I looked out the window. "So Steel, do ya have any idea why the princess wants to see us?"

"Uh, no…" She looked at me, damn her. "Ok, what's goin' on sugercube? Ya look extremely nervous and ya just lied to us." I tried to think of an excuse but Pinkie saw something shiny under my poncho. Immediately she tackled me to the ground and tore off my poncho while repeatedly saying shiny. As soon as my poncho was removed I heard the girls, minus Pinkie, gasp. Pinkie was probably distracted by how shiny it was to care what it was. "Darling, where did you get such a magnificent peace of armor? The design is incredible and it has one of those bullets from your cutie mark." I got up grabbed my poncho, put it back on and moved to the other side of the train car.

"That's the problem, I don't know how I got it. Luna and I were enjoying a picnic, somethings happened, and it just appeared on my chest. I don't know what it is, I don't know if it's dangerous. All I know is that Celestia might know something and she wanted you to be there with me when she tells me what she knows." Everypony was silent until Rarity spoke up. "So Steel, what exactly happened on your picnic with Princess Luna?"

I scratched the back of my neck nervously and blushed slightly, "Uh… nothing important." She was stunned, "Nothing important?! You were on a date with Princess Luna, how is anything not important?!" Now everypony was looking at me with socked expressions and their mouths open. I'm not sure if they were shocked that I didn't think my date with Luna was that important or if it was because of how Rarity reacted. "Nothing really happened." Dash must have noticed my blush that was getting more intense every second, "Really? Then what did you two do that would cause you to blush when you think about it?" My cheeks must have looked like a tomato by now. Luckily before I had to come up with a response the train pulled into Caterlot's station. Once we were off the train we headed to the castle. At the gates to the castle some guards escorted us to the princesses. I noticed they weren't taking us to the throne room where, to my knowledge, the princesses usually tend to their royal duties. The guards lead us to a large room with multiple stained glass windows depicting historical event, some I recognized others I didn't, on the other side of the room stood Celestia and Luna with the Elements of Harmony. We approached them and bowed, just because we know them doesn't mean we shouldn't give them the same respect everypony else does. I stepped forward and my left hind leg was slightly shaking. "Thank you all for coming. Steel where is the armor?" asked Celestia. I took of my poncho, "Ah, any reason you didn't take it off?"

"Well I didn't want to accidentally level Ponyville when I did. I was hoping you and Luna could put a shield over me while I take it off in case it explodes or something." Celestia sighed, "That won't happen, it's an Element of Harmony and therefore unable to cause harm to anypony. Why do you keep thinking its going to explode?" Twilight and the other stared at her, mouths agape, while my brain attempted to make sense of what my ears heard. "Well the last tim- wait, what…!" We sat there unable to comprehend what she just said. Twilight was the first to recover, "But how, there are only six Elements of Harmony."

"No there were more Elements of Harmony, but over time the rest have been destroyed or lost. Last night I looked for any information regarding another Element of Harmony, I didn't find much, but I did find two historical records from the time discord ruled and a prophecy. The first historical record states that there were originally hundreds of Elements of Harmony but after Luna and I found the first one Discord was made aware of their existence. He traveled the land trying to find as many as he could and destroyed them. The second record says that a group of ponies who wanted to end Discord's rule went out and looked for them as well, they found some, though the actual number they found was not written. It also says the ponies hid them somewhere since they knew they wouldn't be able to handle the power of the Elements of Harmony." Celestia gave us a minute to contemplate what she said before continuing. "The prophecy was made after Nightmare Moon's imprisonment on the moon by Starswirl the Breaded. The prophecy says 'When the Elements are recovered they will stop the nightmare, chaos, and shape shifters. Than a stranger from a strange land will come and will rediscover another Element of Harmony, but for every light there must be a shadow and vice versa.' The prophecy is quite clear, however I do not know what the last two words mean."

"Those words are from a language from my planet, I have no idea why it would be written here." I said, "I don't know the exact translation but I know what it means. The prophecy said 'for every light there is a shadow and vice versa.' If you use vice versa correctly the prophecy would the read, for every light there is a shadow and for every shadow there is a light." Once I had finished speaking the girls started asking questions all at once but I stayed silent. "Calm down my little ponies." Luna noticed I wasn't saying anything. "Steel, are you ok? You're very quiet." I walked over to one of the windows and looked out at the city. "I'm sorry everypony, I never should have come here, I've doomed you all." They all looked at me confused, "What are you talking about Steel?" said Twilight. "Discovering another Element of Harmony is a good thing."

"That's not what I'm talking about. It's the last line of the prophecy, 'but for every light there is a shadow." By awakening this element I have set in motion a chain of events that will create a new evil here." Luna walked over to me and wrapped one of her wings around me. "It's ok Steel, I'm sure its nothing the elements can't handle. Besides, I think I speak for everypony when I say that we would rather have you as a friend and face this new threat than have never met you at all." They all nodded in agreement. I half heartedly smiled, happy that they care about our friendship this much and saddened that my presence here has created a new evil. I turned to Celestia and asked the question that has been on my mind since I found out this breastplate was an Element of Harmony. "Is there any way to tell what element this is?"

"Based on your actions since you came here I believe this is the element of courage." This caught me off guard, "If it's the element of courage how did I awaken it, I wasn't doing anything courageous at the time."

"The Elements of Harmony cannot be wielded by somepony who does not have harmony in themselves, your mind was in a state of discord with your heart saying one thing and your mind saying another." I was about to ask how she knew about my inner struggle when she continued. "As soon as Cadence heard what happened she came to see me. I told her what I discovered and she told me about your struggle with your feelings toward Luna. Personally I don't see how you thought you weren't good enough to date my sister but this is a discussion for another time. After what happened on your picnic you were in harmony with your self. The element revealed itself to you since you had already shown your bravery on many occasions, including the time you saved me and Luna from those assassins not to mention the other two times you saved Luna's life." I blushed a little and the girls looked at me expectantly when the picnic was mentioned. "I believe you awakened your element when you save our live but couldn't wield it at that time. Steel I must ask you to leave it here, we can't risk somepony trying to steal it." I nodded in agreement and began to take it off. "Celestia, any reason my element is silver while the girls' elements are gold?"

She only shrugged as I hoofed her my element. "I don't know, I've know about the elements for along time and I still don't completely understand them. Perhaps mares get gold and stallions get silver, I honestly don't know." She locked all seven elements in the vault, "It's getting late, I'll have some room prepared for you. Now if you'll follow me I'm sure you're all hungry." As if on command seven stomachs growled at the same time, Luna blushed while we all laughed. I wasn't surprised Pinkie's stomach didn't growl, I've given up trying to understand her, she could probably live under water for a year without air and it wouldn't surprise me. After we ate we were lead to our rooms, coincidentally I was in the same room I stayed in after the failed assassination attempt. I was asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow

* * *

POV change: Luna

I walked into Tia's room and saw that she was asleep. I began to wake her up knowing that she doesn't like to be disturbed when she sleeps. Her eyes slowly opened and she and an irritated expression on her face. "What is it Luna?"

"It's Steel, I was making sure everypony was sleeping peacefully, as is my duty, but when I tried to enter his dream I couldn't. I went to check on him and he was tossing and turning in his bed, I think he's having another nightmare." I paused for a minute to consider what I was going to say. "I think we should enter his mind, if we can find the source of these nightmares perhaps we can end them." She nodded and slowly stood up. Once we got to Steel's room we moved to the sides of his bed and Tia preformed a spell so we could enter his mind.

Once we were in his mind we looked around, we appeared to be in some sort of graveyard. "This looks similar to the nightmare he had a week ago. If I'm right he should be around here…" I didn't get to finish my thought because we saw Steel running away from everypony that died under his command. "Tia I have an idea, put a barrier in front of Steel." While she did that I put up a barrier on his left and another on his right, effectively trapping him. When he ran into the barrier he was confused and tried to run in the other two directions. When he realized he was trapped he began to hit one of the barriers trying to break it down. "I hope you know what you are doing Luna."

"If I'm right the only way to end these nightmares is for Steel to face them." As the 'zombies' got closer Steel began to hit the barrier with more force. They closer they got the more he began to panic and I could here them say, "Why?" Eventually Steel gave up trying to brake through the barrier, he got into a fighting stance and readied a spell. I even think I heard him whisper, "I'm sorry."

When they were a few feet from him they stopped, "Why? Why do you blame yourself? This question caught Steel off guard, "There was nothing else you could have done." I looked at Steel and saw tears starting to form in his eyes "There must have been something…" Seeing that our work was done we walked to a spot far enough away that Steel wouldn't notice us leaving. As my vision became blurry, signaling that I was returning to reality, I thought I saw a white alicorn with a golden mane watching Steel with a smile on his face but I blinked and he was gone.

I saw Tia walking out of Steel's room, most likely to go back to sleep, and decided it was time to return to my room. I looked back at Steel and saw that he seamed to be sleeping peacefully. I walked across the hall to my room and continued my duties.

* * *

**Canterlot Castle, Canterlot  
****Local time: 0800  
****One month, twelve days since arrival**

I woke up the next morning to the sound of somepony knocking on my door. I slowly got out of bed and walked to the door. I opened it enough to see thru, when I saw Steel standing there I opened it fully. "Good morning Steel."

"Good morning Luna. I wanted to thank you for what you did last night. I didn't see you but I had a feeling you were there, so thank you." I smiled, "Now, everypony else is at the dinning hall, would you care to join us?" I went back into my room put on my royal regalia, quickly brushed my mane, and rejoined Steel. "I'm ready." He chuckled at my response and we walked to the dinning hall.

* * *

POV change: Steel

After breakfast the princesses prepared some chariots for us and we set off for Ponyville. The chariots dropped us off at my place so I said goodbye to eveypony and walked inside. Unfortunately for me today was my designated cleaning day. Since it gets dusty and dirty in every home, I have one day every two weeks to clean my place. After cleaning for a while I had spent a good three hours cleaning. Deciding that I didn't want to do anything to exhausting for the rest of the day I decided to go over to the library and get a book on magic. Since I no longer had somepony teaching me I haven't learned anything new I've just been practicing what I already know. When I walked into the library I saw twilight panicking about something. She kept pacing in circles and didn't know I was there until I stepped in front of her. "Uh, are you alright Twilight?"

"No I'm not alright, I promised Applejack that I would help her today but I also need to get some things from Zecora. I don't have time to do both." For somepony so smart she has problems seeing obvious answers. "Can't you just go to Zecora's tomorrow?" She finnaly stopped pacing and looked at me. "No, Zecora is going on a trip and she's leaving tomorrow and I've already planed the rest of the week, I don't have during the rest of the week to help Applejack." Forget what I said before, good thing I have a plan.

"Don't worry, I can go get the stuff from Zecora, I just need a list and directions." She ran up to me and gave me a hug. A few minutes later I had a map and the list of things Twilight needed and started walking to Zecora's.

* * *

POV change: Twilight

**Thirty minutes later…**

"Thanks for yer help Twi," said Applejack who was admiring her now organized barn. "Ah don't remember the last time it was this organized."

"Your welcome, anything to help a friend." Suddenly the doors to the barn flew open, subsequently hitting the wall hard and knocking lose many of the things the girls had just put away. Spike came running into the barn out of breath. "Twilight, message from the princess." He gave her the scroll and she began to read it.

_Twilight,_

_I need you and your friends including Steel to gather at the library. I'm sending a chariot to pick you up and bring you to Canterlot_

_Princess Celestia_

"Applejack go get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, I'll get Rarity and Pinkie, Spike go back to the library."

* * *

POV change: Steel

As I walked back from Zecora's hut with Twilights supplies I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. But then I remembered that I was wearing my forest camouflage poncho, which covers everything except my legs and head, and I remembered that the denizens of the forest aren't too smart. As I continued to walk I saw something move in the bushes to my left and when I turned in that direction I saw it. It was a gryphon, it looked exactly like the gryphons that tried to assassinate the princesses and it had a cast on its leg, "The one that got away." I looked at it and it looked back at me. Suddenly it unfolded it wings and shot into the sky, I dropped Twilights supplies, since the answers I planed on getting from it were more important, and took off after it. It led me deeper into the forest towards where the ruins of the castle were, if I remember correctly. For a minute I lost sight of it over the castle ruins and just as I was about to give up I saw it through what used to be a window. Flew through the window and started to search the room for it. I felt a gust of wind behind me so I turned around expecting to see the gryphon, instead I saw what I can only describe as a ball of darkness a few inches from my face. Without anytime to react it impacted me and it felt like my body was ripping itself apart and I lost consciousness.

* * *

POV change: Luna

Tia and I were waiting in the throne room for Twilight, Steel, and the others. "What's taking them so long Tia? Do you think they were attacked?" Before she could say anything Twilight and her friends entered then room but I saw that Steel wasn't with them. "Sorry we're late princess, we were waiting for Steel." I looked at my sister and saw that she had the same worried expression I did. "And where is Steel?"

"He was doing me a favor and went to get some supplies from Zecora. We waited for awhile when the chariot arrived but he still wasn't back. I told Spike to tell Steel to teleport here when he gets back." I looked a Tia not really wanting to know the answer to the question I was about to ask. "Tia you don't think…" She levitated the Elements of Harmony to their respective wielders and put Steel's in a saddle bag, which she put on her back.

"We need to return to Ponyville and find Steel." They all started to look worried and were about to ask what was going on when she continued. "Gryphons similar to the ones that attacked me and Luna were seen near Ponyville. We need to make sure Steel is ok. Get close to me, I'm going to teleport us to the library." They got around her and they disappeared in a flash and I followed with my own teleportation spell. "Tia I think it would be best if we split up into two groups." She nodded in agreement, we split up and began searching all over Ponyville for him.

* * *

POV change: Steel

"Uh…" When I opened my eyes my vision was blurry. Once my vision returned I noticed I was in some sort of cell. I also quickly discovered I was chained to the wall. "Good your awake, now we can begin." I could see the owner of the voice since they were in the shadows. But once the stepped into the light my jaw dropped. He was an alicorn with a black coat, a blood red mane and tail, and he had red eyes. "Who are you?" He began to laugh manically and a feeling of dread started to settle in my mind.

"Who am I… who am I. Well I don't have a name but since I used your genetic material to make my self a body I should give you some credit. You can call me Shadow Steel, you should remember this day for when I rule Equestra and free my master you can tell other ponies that you made it all happen." Using his self confidence to my advantage I attempted to get information from him. "Really who is your master?"

"Discord, when he ruled Equestria he started to create me but he was entombed in stone before he could make me a body. I used most of my energy to escape the princess so I fell into a hibernate state, when my master escaped a few months ago his excess energy revived me. And with how powerful I am now I can tap into my master's chaotic energy even though he's encased in stone." Even imprisoned Discord can still cause problems, "So how do you plan on getting rid of the princesses, their not just going to give you control of Eqiestria." He started laughing again, "You must think I'm an idiot, I know your trying to get information from me." Knowing I wouldn't get anymore info from him I tried to escape. "Don't bother you wont get escape. Besides why would you want to escape, your friends will be here soon. But when they find you they will wish they hadn't." Before I could ask what he meant he began to change and after a few seconds an exact replica of my self stood there. Then it clicked he was going to impersonate me to get close to the princesses and kill them. "I've got some time to kill before they get here so… why don't we play a game." He had a crazed look in his eyes and levitate a knife in front of me. I didn't know what he was planning but I knew it would hurt.

**Important Notices:**

**1)** I know many people don't like reading stories where somepony becomes a seventh Element of Harmony but in my story it's just a formality. The Elements of Harmony have been involved in every major event in Equestrian history. Steel becoming an element was just to indicate the severity of the following events, him being an element **will not** play a major role in the story.

**2)**I would like to thank SpitfireUSN for his help creating a better cover for the story, however its not exactly what I want, if anyone else is interested in making a better cover PM me.


	19. … Cast the Darkest Shadows

**Note: **I've managed to piss off my editor so she's refusing to edit my chapters, so until further notice expect faster updates with more grammatical and spelling mistakes. In unrelated news, happy Mother's Day to everypony

Chapter 19: … Cast the Darkest Shadows

**Everfree Forest  
****Local time  
****One month, twelve days since arrival**

We spent over two hours searching the town for Steel but we couldn't find him. After finding no trace of him, we split up into four groups and started to search the Everfree Forest. Twilight and Rarity went to see if Zecora knew anything, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew over the forest in a search pattern, Tia and Pinkie went in one direction while Applejack and I went in a different direction, that was over three hours ago. By now Twilight and Rarity have talked to Zecora, they must not have found anything because nopony has come looking for us. The feelings of dread and fear I had increased every time I called his name and got no response. "Applejack it's been over five hours, do you thinks Steel…"  
"No, don't even think about it. Ah'm sure he's just fine. He probably just pulled a muscle or somethin'… ah hope." We continued to look for Steel but every minute we spent looking for him our hope started to dwindle. "Applejack, what if we don't find him. I don't think I could stand to lose him not after everything he's done for me and everything we've done together, especially after what happened on our date."

"Steel said nothin' important happened and when Dash started to ask more questions he got really nervous. So what really happened?" If I wasn't so worried about Steel, and only partially paying attention to what she said, I probably would have blushed. "We had a nice meal, talked, did some star gazing, and um… kind of kissed." Once I realized what I said I stopped walking. At first I thought she was too surprised to say anything but when I looked behind me I didn't see her, "Applejack?" Just as I was about to go back and look for her the bushes next to me started to move. I assumed it was Applejack but Steel stumbled out of the bush instead. I gasped as he slowly stood back up, "Steel, are you alright?" He smiled as he limped over to me.

"I'm fine… well mostly. After I lost the manticore that was chasing me thru the forest I started to head back to Ponyville. Unfortunately I fell into a ditch and twisted my ankle. I don't know any healing spells so I could fix it. Do you think you can heal it?" I nodded and placed my horn against his ankle. I was about to begin healing it but something hit me in the back of the head and the world went black.

When I regained consciousness I saw that I was in some sort of cell. The walls were recently repaired, some of the metal bars that comprised one wall and the door were extremely rusty while others looked brand new, there was evidence that plants once grew in the cell, and the entire cell was illuminated by two torches on the other side of the door. The torches gave enough light for me to see the inside of the cell and part of the cell across from mine. As I looked around I saw Applejack chained to the wall across from me, her hooves were bound together by rope, making it impossible for her to stand, and there was a chain around her neck connecting her to the wall. As I stood up I felt some thing on my wings. When I looked back at them I saw that they were tied down by some rope and I also had a chain around my neck connecting me to the wall behind me. I tried to walk over to Applejack but the chain around my neck was too short and I couldn't get halfway across the cell. I tried to remove the chains around our necks, the rope around her hooves and the rope holding my wings in place but they were either enchanted to resist magic or something else was blocking my magic. As I looked around the cell for something I could use to free us I noticed that her hat and my crown were missing. I had to halt my search because Applejack started to move, "Applejack, Applejack." She slowly opened her eyes, tried to look around, and shook her head in an attempt to restore her vision. Once she noticed that her hooves were bound she struggled in an attempt to free them.

"What in tarnation is goin' on here?" By this time I had sat down and I just shrugged in response, "Last thing ah remember is us lookin' for Steel, then ah fell in a ditch. Ah musta hit mah head on somethin'." She tried to free herself while I tried to contact Tia but as I feared something was keeping me from using magic. We stopped what we were doing when we heard somepony laughing. We looked towards the door and saw Steel on the ground laughing. Overcome by happiness I tried to run over to him but the chain kept me a few lengths from the wall, "Steel, you're ok!" He continued to laugh a little longer before he calmed himself. "We need ya to get us outa here before who ever put us in here gets back." He started laughing again and we exchanged a glance, both of us wondering what was going on.

"Oh Applejack, what makes you think I want to help you?" We looked at each other and then back at him. "I know you two aren't the smartest ponies but even you should have figured it out by now. Hasn't it occurred to either of you that I was the one who put you in there?" They gasped, "After I 'disappeared' all I had to do was wait for you to split up. Now that I have you two I just have to wait until the others come looking for you and when they do they'll fall right into my trap. Soon I shall rule all of Equestria." He started to laugh again.

"Steel, what's going on? You're one of the nicest ponies I've ever known, you'd never act like this. What happened?" He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a gryphon similar to the ones that tried to kill me and Tia. The gryphon whispered something to Steel and his eyes slightly widened in surprise. "Well it seems the others got here sooner than I expected." He opened the door and two gryphons entered and detached me from the wall. "Take her to the room. I'll join you in a minute I just need to see if our other guest has any useful information. As the gryphons lead me away I saw a third gryphon close and lock the cell door behind me. I also saw Steel enter the other cell and put up some sort of barrier that kept me from seeing what was happening inside and it also muffled Steel and whoever was in there with him. As I was led away I could hear muffled screams coming from the cell.

* * *

POV change: Celestia

**Twenty minutes ago…**

After three and a half hours of searching I decided it was time to head back to the library and see if the others found anything. When we entered the library I saw Rarity talking to Spike while Twilight and a zebra, who I can only assume is Zecora, were looking over a map. "If this is the direction you heard the screams coming from than we should focus our efforts here." Twilight said while pointing to the area of the map where my old castle's ruins are. "So you didn't find him either?"

She shook her head sadly, "No… but we think we've found out what part of the forest he's in." She gestured to the map again. "Oh where are my manners princess this is Zecora, Zecora this is Princess Celestia" Zecora bowed and I lowered my head slightly. "Well at least we have something. What about the others?" She shook her head and we began to plan where we would search next. As we were looking at the map Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy came in, both of them had worried expressions on their faces.

"Guys we have a serious problem!" Rainbow said, "While we were flying over the forest Fluttershy saw a gryphon and it looked like the ones that Steel said attacked you princess. We followed it to the ruins where we found the Elements of Harmony and when I went inside I found these." She reached into her saddle bag and took out a piece of fabric that looked like it was from Steel's poncho, Applejack's Stetson, and Luna's crown. We could only gasp and stare at them. "I think they were captured and taken to the ruins."

"Girls we have to go now!" They jumped at the tone of my voice but followed me towards the ruins. As we walked Twilight tried to stop me. "Princess, we should get the guards, we can't do this alone." I stopped and looked at her. "I will not allow any harm to come to my sister… or the others. Every second we wait they could be torturing her… them, or worse." At this point I could feel tears starting to form in my eyes. "I don't want them to get hurt because we waited. I lost my sister for a thousand years, I don't want to lose her again, I don't want to lose any of them." We continued on towards the ruins but when we arrived there was no pony around. As we walked thru the ruins there was an eerie silence, we checked some of the intact room and found nothing. We decided that if they were captured and brought here they would most likely be in the dungeon so I lead the way towards it. As we neared where the dungeon was we found a door guarded by two gryphons, the first sign of life since we entered the ruins. "They must be in there, are you ready my little ponies?" They all looked nervous but nodded. I used my magic to knock the guard's heads together causing them to burst into black mist. We quietly opened the door and saw Luna chained to the wall on the far side of the room. "Luna!"

She looked up, "Tia get out of here it's a trap!" Suddenly a magical barrier was put up between me and the girls and another blocking the door we just came thru. The door next to Luna opened and about fifty gryphons rushed into the room followed by Steel. Steel looked at us and smiled, "Too easy. You should try and be less predictable Celestia. Get her!" The gryphons rant towards me and I prepared to defend myself, I hated fighting but knew that sometimes it was necessary. I blasted them with spells and kicked them causing them to burst into black mist, giving me the impression that they weren't living creatures, while the girls pounded on the barrier in a futile attempt to get to me. Eventually I defeated them all only receiving a few scratches. I tried to hit Steel with a concussive blast but he hid behind Luna and levitated a knife to her throat. The door to my left opened and I turned towards it expecting to see more gryphons but I saw Applejack standing in the door way instead. She saw me and stood next to me. I noticed Luna trying to talk to Steel but he only moved the knife closer to her throat. He looked around the room most likely trying to find a way out. Then he got a look in his eyes. "Any final words of comfort for your sister Celestia?" That's when I realized he was going to kill her, "No, too bad." I could only watch in horror as the knife began to move.

* * *

POV change: Steel

**Five minutes ago…**

After I regained consciousness from Shadow Steels latest attempt to get information from me the first thing that registered in my mind was pain, lots and lots of pain. I slowly looked around and saw blood everywhere, it was on the walls, the ceiling, the floor, and there were bloody hoofprints going into the hallway. I couldn't remember if I said anything or what happened, so I looked at my body… big mistake. My condition brought tears to my eyes which only made things worse since the salt from my tears was getting in the cuts on my face. Both my wings were broken, there were large stakes pinning me to the wall, one for each of my legs and smaller stakes for my wings, and my right foreleg was destroyed, it was so bad a butter knife could cut it off. I also saw that I had multiple knives protruding from different points on my body, I couldn't see out of my left eye, and I was having trouble breathing. But the worst part was my ribs, I could feel that many of them were broken and I could see parts of bone thru what was once my chest. Once I regained my composer I looked thru the bars of my cell for anything useful and saw Applejack in the cell across from me struggling against her bonds. I noticed that her bonds were rope, looking around my cell I saw a table with some unused knives and I levitated one over to her. I was barely able to move the knife, the magical aura surrounding it kept flickering and the knife constantly shook, all indicators of the trauma my body sustained. I saw her eyes following the knife until I dropped it next to her. She immediately grabbed it and started cutting the rope.

As soon as she was free she ran up to the door and started to buck it, hopping to knock it off its hinges or break it down completely. After many failed attempts I focused on turning the lock with my magic. However instead of turning the lock I shot a concussive blast at it. The blast hit one of the newer bars in my cell so I tried to create another one, this one went thru my cell's bars and hit the lock causing it to shatter and the door to open. She ran over to my cell, most likely to try and figure out who I was. "Don't worry, ah'll get ya out of there. But first ah gotta save Princess Luna." She then took off down the corridor. When she said Luna was in trouble something clicked in my mind. "Luna, no… I won't let her suffer because of my mistake." I used what strength I still had and teleported myself off the wall and to the other side of the cell bars. I looked back into the cell and saw the stakes holding me on the wall were still in the wall. As I shuffled my way down the hallway it became easier to walk, "Thank god for adrenalin." At first I went the same way Applejack went then at the first intersction I just followed my gut. After a couple of minutes of limping/ shuffling I came to an open door and saw Celestia and Applejack staring down Shadow Steel who was behind Luna, had a knife to her throat, and still looked like me.

"Any last words of comfort for your sister Celestia? No, too bad." I saw him start to move the knife. I don't know what it was maybe it was the adrenalin, maybe it was the love I had for Luna but using my magic I ripped out one of the knives from my body ignoring the pain, as it came out I could feel muscles being ripped. Once the knife was out of my body I threw it at Shadow Steel. The knife imbedded itself in his shoulder causing him to drop the knife he was magically holding. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Celestia, Applejack, Twilight and the others, who were behind some sort of barrier, look at me and gasp. I didn't pay much attention to them because I was too busy trying to create another concussive blast. I noticed Shadow Steel pull the knife out of his shoulder and through at me. I jumped out of the way and fired a concussive blast at him, at the same time I saw the knife he dropped coming at me. I had no time to dodge this sceond knife and it landed in my chest between two ribs. My blast knocked Shadow Steel into the wall giving Luna time to move as far away from him as possible and Celestia time to pin him to the wall. At the same time he hit the wall the barriers in the room disappeared allowing the Twilight and the others to help. Knowing Shadow Steel was contained I staggered over to the nearest wall and leaned on it. "Two Steels, how is this possible?" They all looked at me and Shadow Steel while I slowly slid down the wall. You know when actors slide down the wall and leave a blood smear where they started, I did one of those, if I wasn't in so much pain I probably would have thought it was pretty cool how that actually works.

While Celestia held Shadow Steel against the wall the girls helped free Luna from her bonds. Once she was free she looked between the two of us. "Tia, I have an idea!" she exclaimed. "One of them has to be using a spell or some sort of potion. We could use a spell to cancel the effects and find out who the real Steel is." While they were talking I felt, then saw, a puddle of blood forming around me. Looking down at my chest I saw the knife still in my chest and the wound leaking blood, seeing how large the puddle of blood was I was afraid the blade hit an artery. I slowly pulled the knife out, once it was out the amount of blood coming out of the wound tripled. I tried to stop the bleeding but it was futile, as I tried to stop it I saw a pair of lavender hooves stop in front of me. Looking up I saw Twilight's horn glowing, she touched her horn to mine and I felt a wave of power wash over me. After the spell was over I channeled the left over energy into healing the knife wound in my chest and managed to cut the bleeding in half. I looked around and saw that Shadow Steel reverted to this original form. He growled and four gryphons dropped from the rafters surprising Celestia. In her surprise she lost focus and Shadow Steel was freed, he quickly flew out the skylight. Celestia and Luna swiftly dealt with the gryphons and Luna rushed to my side followed by the others. I barely noticed their presence because I was focusing all my efforts into stopping the bleeding. I felt somepony caress my cheek and felt tears on my back causing me to wince in pain, salty tears in open wounds kind of stings. "Tia we… we have to do something. Steel needs help." Celestia teleported all of us to the castles medical wing and they put me in one of the beds. Luna stayed by my side while everypony else went to get some doctors.

Luna held my hoof in hers while she cried. "Steel, you're… you're going to be fine. Tia and the others are… are going to get the doctors, you'll be fine." By this time I knew it was pointless to try and stop the bleeding, all I could do is keep as much blood inside my body as possible. With out a doctor there was no chance I would make it, even with one there was almost no chance I would make it. I looked at her with tears in my eyes. "No, I'm not. There's nothing anypony can do. I'm sorry but its… its too… too late." By now we were both crying and I decided to do something stupid but at least I would see her smile one last time.

(Sing Together by Train)

_If I go before I say, to everyone in my ballet,  
__Let me take this chance, to thank for the dance.  
__If I run out of songs to sing, to take your mind of everything.  
__Just smile, and sit a while with the  
__Sun on your face and remember the place we met.  
__Take a breath and soon I'll bet you see,  
__Without you I would never be me.  
__You are the leaves of my family tree.  
_

The pain left and my body felt numb.

_Sing together,  
__If you knew me from the very start,  
__Or we met last week at the grocery mart.  
__Just, sing together,  
__It's the least that I could do,  
__My final gift to you._

I couldn't hear Luna crying any more, all I could hear was a ringing sound.

_When I'm past the pearly gates, I will find some real estate,  
__Where we can settle down and watch the world go round.  
__We'll send down all the love we got,  
__And let them know we have a spot,  
__For them to be, and it's all free.  
__The sun on your face and remember the place we met.  
__Take a breath and soon I'll bet you see,  
__Without you I would never be me.  
__You are the leaves of my family tree._

My vision faded and the last thing I saw was Luna smiling at me with unshed tears in her eyes

_Sing together,  
__If you knew me from the very start,  
__Or not at all you're still a part.  
__Just, sing together,  
__It's the least that I can do,  
__My final gift to you._

* * *

POV change: Luna

"I lo-love you-u… Luna…" As his eyes closed his hoof went limp and I started to cry again. "Steel… Steel!" I attempted to get him breathing by using EPR (Emergency Pony Resuscitation). Most ponies would have passed out by the amount of blood that was coming out of his body but I didn't care. I tried every thing I could but it was no use. I buried my head in his bloody chest and cried just as Tia returned with the doctors. Tia led me out to the waiting room where I buried my head in her chest while I continued to cry. I was only minimally aware that I was turnning her white coat red. Soon I heard somepony running, I looked up and saw Cadence.

"What happened, where's…" One look at my face and she knew what happened. "I'm sorry… this shouldn't have happened. After everything that has happened to you, to both of you, everything you've been thru, you two deserved to be happy." I nodded and stared at the ground. "Don't worry Luna, Steel will pull thru." Tia tired her best to comfort me but it wasn't working. "Steel's going to be fine." They both did their best to cheer me up, it was useless. The first pony I've ever loved was dying I couldn't do anything to help him, it seemed hopeless.


End file.
